Preparing currently employed public health nurses for changes in the health system

Objectives. This article describes a core public health nursing curriculum, part of a larger project designed to identify the skills needed by practic ing public health workers if they are to successfully Fill roles in the cur rent and emerging public health system. Methods. Two focus groups of key informants. representing state and local p ublic health nursing practice, public health nursing education, organizatio ns interested in public health and nursing education, federal agencies, and academia synthesized material from multiple sources and outlined the key c ontent for a continuing education curriculum appropriate to the current pub lic health nursing workforce. Results. The skills identified as most needed were those required for analy zing data, practicing epidemiology, measuring health status and organizatio nal change, connecting people to organizations, bringing about change in or ganizations, building strength in diversity, conducting population-based in tervention, building coalitions. strengthening environmental health, develo ping interdisciplinary teams, developing and advocating policy evaluating p rograms, and devising approaches to quality improvement. Conclusions: collaboration between public health nursing practice and educa tion and partnerships with other public health agencies will be essential f or public health nurses to achieve the required skills to enhance public he alth infrastructure.