Public Health Nurses

Public Health Nurses

Are you a nursing undergraduate? Want to pursue your career as a Public Health Nurse? Seeking more information on what degrees you need to complete to become a public health nurse? 

Yes! You are on the right page. Public health nurses play a valuable role in society.

Public Health Nurses (PHN) work closely with healthcare teams and clinics. They provide health care solutions, educate an aware community as well as provide treatment. Public health nurses are like educators. They work for a large group of people. Their major aim is to educate the public about preventing diseases, ensuring safety, and improving community health and well-being.

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Public health nurses include the biggest expert section of the work environment in public health and are associated with the counteractive action, education, promotion, activism, appraisal, and assessment of Public Health. They hold an important role in the prevention of illness and help to advance community health and safety. 

For students who are already in the nursing system or who are still in training to be a nurse; public health nursing offers opportunities of chances to make noteworthy improvements in public health. While most nurses care for one patient at any given moment, public health attendants care for the whole population. The capacity to work with the entire community permits public health nurses to help in teaching the community about health issues to enhance their health and well-being and encourage treatment.

Public health nurses (PHNs) work less with people and tend to work more with the whole community. Their job is to ensure that the general health of the community that they are concentrating on is being improved and progressed. Furthermore, they can work in a wide range of settings, despite the fact that they are regularly found in public health divisions, state or area branches of health, word-related health offices, rehabilitation facilities, schools, organizations and voluntary associations.

The Role of a Public Health Nurse

Public Health Nurses

A public health nurseโ€™s primary job is to promote wellness and prevent illness. This specialized nursing field focuses on teaching groups of people or a community on how to live healthy lifestyles and prevent diseases.

Their primary objective is to enhance the general health and well-being of the community by taking out or if nothing else alleviating the risks of disease. Their duties include things such as setting up projects for STDs, weight and vaccinations. Moreover, they take an interest in the planning of disaster management. The activity places them in public health facilities, yet it is additionally about instructing the network and working with youngsters in those communities. As a general rule, they work in underserved community and country areas.

The Public health nurses perform some of the following duties or tasks they are given โ€“

  • Evaluating health patterns to recognize health hazard factors explicit to the community.
  • Appointing needs for health-related intercessions so as to give the best advantage.
  • Plan and execute health instruction battles and exercises for infection counteractive action.
  • Give data on nearby health projects and administrations that are accessible to enhance access to the mind.
  • Giving direct health care administrations to in danger populaces.

They also โ€“

  • Monitor health inclines and recognize health hazard factors to explicit community.
  • Set nearby needs for health-related mediations to give the best advantage to a great many people.
  • Advocate with nearby, state and government experts to enhance access to health administrations for underserved community.
  • Structure and actualize health instruction crusades and illness counteractive action exercises, for example, vaccinations and screenings.
  • Educate individuals regarding locally accessible healthcare projects and administrations to enhance access to the mind.
  • Instruct and give guide health care administrations to defenseless and in danger populaces.

Health education is an essential aspect of public health nurses. Drawing on their preparation as enrolled nurses, public health nurses give individuals solid, valuable data about how to ensure their health.ย In the low-pay and provincial community, public health nurses additionally give basic health care administrations. They vaccinate schoolchildren and demonstrate to the parents about their children’s care and show the old how to remain protected and healthy at home. They additionally should have the capacity to perceive and react to potential health emergencies.

Educational Requirements and Steps

Public Health Nurses

Let’s now review the requirements and steps needed to become a Public Health Nurse and determine which degree to pursue.

Degree / Requirement to Pursue to Work as a Public Health Nurse:

  1. You must need an (ADN) Degree or a (BSN).
  2. It is mandatory to Pass the NCLEX-RN exam and Obtain the R.N Degree.
  3. For a work permit in an organization/hospital you must get a certificate on a PH-accredited program and 3 years of work experience in the public health sector. (Noted: If you believe that public health nursing is for you, it would be best to work with your nearest neighborhood affiliation or some other local gathering and start doing some social or humanitarian work during your study time. In your local area there might be any privileged organization/institute or home health providers who may need support from others and are also keen to provide practical training to social workers. You can grant yourself as a social worker/support nurse to them and achieve experiences by working in those small organizations).
  4. CPH examination or MPH Degree is not mandatory. But you can get better results after you complete these programs.

Let’s check out the steps on how you can complete your PHN degree.

Path to Becoming a Public Health Nurse:

ADN or BSN:

To work as a public health nurse, you must first obtain your Registered Nurse (RN) license. And in order to do so, you’ll need a college diploma. Although many healthcare institutions today prefer nurses with a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN or an associate degree in nursing (ADN) is the usual. These degrees have become a minimal expectation in the USA.

BSN normally includes accomplishing a four-year four year certification, despite the fact that there are a couple of community health programs that additionally acknowledge an associate’s degree.

Depending on your institution, there will be some prerequisites of PHN that you may need to complete. The prerequisites areย (Biology, zoology, physiology, physiology, nutrition education, biomedical statistics, medication, and chemistry).

Nursing schools consider candidates with GPA 3.0 or higher. So, you must carry a brilliant result in secondary school certification and Nursing school admission test (e.g: TEAS). You may need to have a face-to-face interview, application of recommendation and CPR certification to get admitted.

Pass NCLEX-RN Exam:

When you have finished your degree, you need to pass the NCLEX-RN examination. This will enable you to begin rehearsing as a prepared nurse.

NCLEX-RN exam will verify your nursing degree and RN license nationwide in the USA and You will be able to work as a Public Health Nurse in any organization based on your skill and experiences. 

However, the examination will help you get an RN license, enhance your medical ideas, clinical knowledge, immediate decision taking ability, improve your power of thinking and boost your confidence to work in the nursing community.

Ensure that you keep on searching for work and volunteering openings:

On the off chance that you need to finish up in a supervisory job, you will likely additionally require further alumni training. To, Accelerate your knowledge try to get a job in any private clinic, hospital, or healthcare institute in your area. It will improve your clinical knowledge and nursing experience. Some basic skills will allow you to advance in your nursing profession to get a better job and earn a handsome salary.

Achieve MSN OR MPN Degree to be more experienced:

An MSN will teach you how to care for individuals whereas an MPH is designed to teach you how to avoid disease and sickness in large populations. 

Achieving an MSN or MPN degree will bring more value to your career and open the door of high income. MSN will only take two or three years to obtain this degree. After BSN, at any goodwin university you can look forward to obtaining your MSN degree. It will advance your knowledge particularly on health care topics such as – public health management and policy, ethics in public health, health assessment, public and community health assessment, clinical nurse specialist, psychiatric, Advanced Pathophysiology, Foundational Concepts and Applications and so on.

On the other hand, obtaining an MPH (master’s degree in public health) will allow you to concentrate more on the public health area.

There are numerous courses you may take to become specialized (e.g: Bioinformatics, Behavioral Epidemiology, Program Evaluation and Research, Emergency Preparedness, Community Health Development, Public Policy Processes and Strategies, Environmental Health Sciences, Global Disaster Management, Biostatistics etc.)

Earning an MPH degree will allow you to focus more on community well-being and expand your opportunities for advancement. You can also select from a variety of occupations such as health educator, clinical researcher, epidemiologist, biostatistician, and global health professional.

These steps will provide genuine achievement. When you earn the credits and skill, you will have the capacity to demonstrate that you are completely Experienced!, which means your profession can begin with expertise.

Certificates or Credentials that are Needed

Extra certificates can help nurses to get advanced knowledge in nursing as well as master their existing skills.  Recently, There is no such special certification needed for public health nurses. But still, if any Nurse wants to get certified in public health can check with their state’s Board of Nursing to see what they need to do to get further progress or can have the following certification.

  • Certificate name: National Healthcare Disaster Professional Certification
  • Centre: The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
  • Certificate Credential Awarded: NHDP-BC
  • Course fee: $395, and $270 (for American Nurses Association members)
  • Certificate Name: Public Health Nurse Advanced
  • Centre: The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
  • Certificate Credential Awarded: PHNA-BC
  • Course fee: $ 350 non-member, $250 American Nurses Association member, $295 American Public Health Association-Public Health Nursing Section member
  • Certificate Name: Certified in Public Health
  • Centre: National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE)
  • Certificate  Credential Awarded: CPH
  • Course fee: $385

Job Outlook and Salary Range of a Public Health Nurse

Public Health Nurses serve as our lifesavers. They play an important role in the community in terms of promoting health and safety equality and ensuring community well-being. They are in great demand in developing nations that require community health protection and a balanced public health environment.

Basically, the availability of PHN jobs varies according to area, necessity, and criteria. To give you a better understanding, we have listed the top five PHN states. Let’s check it out-

Public Health Nurses 1

Since they frequently serve diverse races and communities, Bilingual nurses who are fluent in both Spanish and English are required desperately. Normally, In a year compensation for a public health nurse Approximately is $51,000 – $ 93,000.

The average salary for a public health nurse is $69,251 per year in the United States and $11,250 overtime per year. Recently, Public health specialties are growing, and this occupation is held by 1.3 percent of registered nurses (RN). Here is a list of average salaries of some different fields of PHN. Check below-

Public Health Nurses 2

However, The pay rates can change enormously because of organization, area, industry, experience and advantages. Pay rates additionally differ greatly relying upon occupation area, educational qualifications and prerequisites.


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