At the clinic, in the classroom, and across the globe, nurses are at the forefront of leading change and promoting social justice in healthcare. But this doesn t just happen. To provide the best possible patient care and effectively improve a community s future health, nurses need practical advice, realistic strategies, and the core public health leadership competencies[md]community relationship-building, inquiry, assessment, analysis, planning, action, evaluation, and persuasion --that transcend categorical public health concerns.
Healthy Places, Healthy People (3rd ed.) provides everything that current and future nurses need to prepare, gather, organize, and analyze basic community information to create a public health strategy. A well-crafted strategy enables public health workers to effectively mobilize citizen action, working with groups and individuals to build capacity for health equity and, ultimately, a healthier future.
Lisa Elaine Skemp, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, is Professor and Chair for the Department of Health Systems, Leadership, and Policy at Loyola University Chicago. Skemp received the American Public Health Association New Investigator s Award for her cross-cultural research in the Caribbean and is a Claire M. Fagin Fellow for her work in rural community healthy aging.
Melanie Creagan Dreher, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Dean Emeritus of Rush University College of Nursing. An educator for more than 40 years, Dreher has received many awards for her contributions to the health of communities, including a citation from the U.S. ambassador for her community development work in Jamaica.
Susan Primm Lehmann, MSN, RN, is Assistant Professor (Clinical) at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. She is creator and director of the Young Community Nurse Clinician Program, an extracurricular mentorship program for talented nursing students considering a career in community and public health nursing.