After completing this course, school nurses will be able to:

• Explain the differences between health and public health
• Understand how data is collected and used in practice
• Advocate effectively for change
• Detail the laws and policies related to their daily practice
• Determine root causes of public health issues, and use a public health approach to address them

Lesson 1: Learning Objectives:

• Describe how public health differs from the healthcare of individuals
• State two early works of public health that have reduced communicable diseases
• Describe what public health measures have contributed to increased life expectancy in the past 100 years, both in the United States and globally
• Name two factors that produce inequalities in health
• State the two leading social factors in the cause of death in the United States
• Give two examples of how prevention has improved public health in the United States
• List two global trends and one political challenge facing public health today

Lesson 2: Learning Objectives:

• Name four key uses of data
• List characteristics that are necessary for data to be useful
• Calculate the incidence and prevalence of a given disease and population
• Distinguish between absolute and relative measures of association
• Compute the risk difference and risk ratio for a given disease and sleep characteristic
• Describe the difference between association and causation of disease
• Define confidence interval estimates

Lesson 3: Learning Objectives:

• List six elements of establishing a successful coalition
• Explain why a coalition has a lifespan
• Know what questions to ask when establishing and maintaining productive coalitions
• List the ways effective coalitions meet their goals

Lesson 4: Learning Objectives:

• Explain how public health laws and policies shape population health
• Contrast laws and policies at the federal level
• Summarize the status of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
• Differentiate between Medicare and Medicaid
• Describe the impact of hospital consolidations on health care providers

Lesson 5: Learning Objectives:

• Contrast the definitions of health and public health
• Describe the five steps of the public health approach to addressing problems
• Identify fundamental causes of disease
• Give examples of interventions for each of the five levels of the social ecological model

Lesson 6: Learning Objectives:

• List five data collection methods for program evaluation
• Design a basic survey questionnaire
• List two methods of selecting a survey sample
• Describe key components in planning and conducting interviews and focus groups