- Public health nursing helps the community and individuals by promoting knowledge and preventive treatments.nurse on duty image by Pix by Marti from Fotolia.com
Public health nursing professionals work with communities to help control and prevent communicable diseases, prevent abuse or neglect for children, spouses and elders, and take part in community outreach programs to provide preventive health screenings. To work as a public health professional in the state of California, professionals must apply for certification with the board of registered nurses. - Applicants for the public health nursing certificate must hold a current RN license by the state of California prior to submitting the certificate application. To become a registered nurse in California, applicants must have completed an RN training program and take the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination--Registered Nurse) examination. If an applicant holds a valid RN license in another state, she may qualify for licensure by endorsement, which does not require applicants to take the NCLEX-RN exam.
- To obtain a public health nursing certificate, applicants are required to have training at an accredited institution, such as the California State University Certificate in Public Health Nursing program, if their previous training did not cover public health topics. These programs are for students who already have their Bachelor of Science in nursing degree. Course work for public health nurse training includes foundations of public health nursing, practical community health nursing and family nursing.
- All applicants must take seven hours of course work in child abuse awareness and prevention. These courses provide students with information regarding early detection techniques, prevention techniques, intervention techniques and California reporting requirements. The required course work can be taken while students work toward a bachelor's degree or through an approved continuing education institution.
