Online MSN in Community-Based Public Health Specialization

Community health nursing skills

Today, the American Nurses Association (ANA) defines public health nursing as, “The practice of promoting and protecting the health of populations using knowledge from nursing, social, and public health sciences.”¹ Public health nurses work together using advocacy, education, and policy development to address topics including: immunizations, infection prevention, environmental health, opioid crisis response and issues of social justice.¹ While certain organizations and associations may prefer the use of one term over the other, as the field has expanded, the terms “public health” and “community health” have become essentially interchangeable.

Community health nurses can be responsible for:

• Designing and implementing education programs about prevention measures, healthy lifestyles, and disease prevention
• Advocating for health policy development and reform on behalf of the community
• Researching interventions, policy, and programs that improve public health
• Reviewing historical records, scientific studies, and population data to prevent injuries and illnesses to promote health across populations
• Leading other nurses in public health endeavors within the federal government, state or local governments, medical laboratories, hospitals, or other community organizations

MSN Online: Community-Based Public Health Specialization

In addition to the core MSN online courses, MSN Community-Based Public Health nursing students will take 21-credit hours of courses in their specialization. Building fundamental skills in leadership and management while deepening their knowledge of key public health topics, students will graduate prepared to be effective public health nurses.

Drive change with an MSN Specialization in Community Public Health Nursing

Combine your nursing experience with your interest in social justice and health equity to make a difference in the lives of your neighbors and community members. With your MSN specialization in public health you’ll have a better opportunity to steer your career in an exciting direction.

Take the lead in community-based nursing

Designed to prepare nurses to assume leadership roles in assessing communities and populations, the OCU MSN public health master’s specialization will prepare nursing students to identify high-risk groups, and, in partnership with communities, consumers, and stakeholders, develop culturally sensitive, evidence-based, and population appropriate nursing interventions to positively impact the determinants of health.

Master’s in community-based nursing FAQ

History of public health and community health nursing

Public health was once primarily made up of isolation and quarantine measures to battle diseases like smallpox and typhoid. But with industrialization and urbanization increasing the density of cities in the 1800s, public health came to be understood as a societal issue with a concentration put on sanitation efforts in addition to disease prevention.² As a nurse, you’re likely familiar with Florence Nightingale’s innovative work. She changed how we understand the widespread health benefits of sanitation, health reform, and administration, and was also a leader in using statistics and visual analytics to communicate research findings. In many ways, she paved the way for public health nursing which has come a long way since its initial form in the 18th century.

Public health nurses are crucial to our communities as demonstrated by their work managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health nurses in clinics, hospitals, city, state and county health departments, Rural Health Centers, tribal clinics and beyond were key in educating their communities about prevention measures, distributing vaccines, and supporting some of the most vulnerable populations in the country. While there’s no specific employment outlook data for the field of public health nursing, employment of registered nurses overall is projected to grow by 6%³ while the projected growth for health education specialists and community health workers is at 12%,⁴ signaling a promising job outlook for nurses in public health.