Head of Department
Public health nursing is a specialized field of nursing that focuses on the health needs of communities and their practice applied to promoting and protecting the health of the population. The nursing care practice for Public Health Nurses focuses on the community as the client. Currently the population of aged and chronically ill patients is on the increase, coupled with the complex socio economic conditions. These have contributed to ill - health, which increases hospital care expenses. Evidence suggests that increasing attention to healthy lifestyles and healthy behaviours prevents health problems and reduces health risk and threats. Strengthening the Public Health-care system based on primary health care is thus the focus of health-care management system with Professional Public Health Nurse Providers being the anchor of the health care system to the entire community to meeting the demands of community health care as well as achieving the mission statement of the Ministry of Health which is ‘’to bring health services as close as possible to communities’ especially those in hardest-to- reach rural geolocations.
Courses We Offer
The Public Health Nursing (PHN) Department of the School of Nursing Sciences offers CHN courses to BSc Nursing and BSc Midwifery students within the school at the following years.
- 3rd year
- 4th year and
- 5th year
The PHN Department also offers Community Based Education (CBE) during the 4th year to both Nursing and midwifery students.
During the CBE experience, the students are taught how to conduct Community Diagnosis during the outreach sessions. During the four weeks rural and urban CBE experience, the students get in direct contact with the communities as they interview them on their socio-economic and cultural demographics. They also communicate directly with rural and urban populations as they inform and educate them on acceptable life style to avoid and prevent communicable and non-communicable diseases, gender-based violence, the dangers of substance and alcohol abuse as well as promoting adolescent, under-five and pregnant women’s health. The students learn to collaborate with the Neighbouhood Health chairpersons and the community-based volunteers who live closest to the Communities. The students also get to learn about the structure and operation of the National Health Care System.
Goals and Objectives of the Department
- To increase the capability of families, groups and communities to cope with health and illness problems through health education that forms the basis for health decisions they are expected to make.
- To build positive health care attitudes in community and sub-groups that are consistent with effective health planning action at all levels – family, individual and groups.
- To support and supplement the efforts of other professional workers, agencies in the control of disease and in restoration and preservation of health.
- To provide some health information for development of health policy and plans to other members.
- To report the occurrence of notifiable diseases or preventable diseases or any health threat in the community,
- To conduct Screening tests in schools and report results to relevant authorities
- To control, counteract as much as possible physical/social environmental conditions that increases threats to health or decrease the enjoyment of life.
- To contribute to the requirement and improvement of CHN practice and service through conducting Relevant Research.
- To monitor and evaluate the health status of communites
Future Plans for the Department
- Upcoming BSc Public Health Nursing.
- PhD in Public Health Nursing
Undergraduate Programmes in the Department
Postgraduate Programmes in the Department
