If the last two years have taught us anything, it is the profound role that public health nurses play in keeping our families, our communities, and our world safe. The life of a public health nurse is not always easy by any means, but it can yield rewards and opportunities that are unimaginable to those outside the field.
Nevertheless, it can take time to find your bearings in the field of public health nursing. But there are a few important lessons new and aspiring public health nurses need to know to start their careers off right!
Responsibilities Beyond Patient Care
People generally get into nursing because, above all, they want to help others. And for nurses, that usually means a strong focus on providing patient care.
For public health nurses, though, caring for patients may be only a portion of the average workday. In fact, public health nurses’ responsibilities can be quite wide-ranging, involving everything from workplace and community-based health education to public health policy development.
But those are by no means the only career options open to public health nurses. If you love doing research, then you may find yourself working in the domains of public health analytics or epidemiology. On the other hand, if managing organizations or leading and developing talent is more up your alley, your background in public health nursing can well lead to a career in health system administration.
And what all this means is that new and aspiring public health nurses would do well to explore the myriad opportunities that the career offers. Building your ideal career trajectory in public health can begin even before you have your first assignment as a public health nurse.
Practicing Self-Care
To be sure, nurses in the public health space enjoy seemingly limitless opportunities. But as rewarding as the career may be, it is important to be wary of the inevitable challenges.
Public health nursing can also subject care workers to tremendous stress, exposing them to immense physical, psychological, and emotional pressure. This is true not only in periods of a public health crisis but also at any time when stresses are high.
The holidays, for example, can be an anxious and exhausting time for anyone, but they can be especially so when your job also involves significant stress.
So, as you contend both with the rigors of the holiday season and the challenges of launching your new career in public health, it’s imperative to practice self-care. And that should include ensuring that you set small, realistic goals for the season.
Know your limits and ensure that you make time every day for sufficient sleep, good nutrition, healthy exercise, and a bit of downtime alone or with the people you love.
Above all, self-care as a public health nurse must also include the acknowledgment of and respect for the challenges you face in your work. The work, as rewarding as it may be, can also introduce stressors that may, in turn, contribute to depression and anxiety.
Learning to recognize these risks, and the symptoms associated with these conditions, is essential if you are to enjoy the long and vibrant career you want and the overall quality of life you deserve.
Hard and Soft Skills
Because public health nurses are required to wear so many hats in fulfilling their duties, it’s going to be important that you cultivate a diverse skillset beyond even that of hands-on patient care.
For example, since public health is very much a data-driven endeavor, you’re likely going to need some pretty deep computer skills.
And because your focus is on the health of the communities you serve, you will also probably find yourself traveling extensively, particularly to areas that are medically underserved or that are considered to be at high risk for a public health crisis, whether that pertains to the threat of infectious disease or the risk of non-communicable but ubiquitous illness, such as heart disease and diabetes.
Thus, as you launch your career in public health nursing, it’s important to be prepared for the unique demands that such public service will place on you. You will likely need to become comfortable with spending significant amounts of time away from home, and with adjusting quickly to new environments and cultures.
The Takeaway
There are few careers as rewarding as that of the public health nurse. Opportunities in the field are as diverse as they are numerous, offering public health nurses the chance to engage in challenging and important work in areas ranging from epidemiology to hospital administration. Best of all, the career enables nurses to take a place at the front lines of health education and policy-making, Nevertheless, it is crucial that public health nurses also be cognizant of and prepared for the substantial demands that will be placed on them, from the pressures associated with the work itself to the realities that personal sacrifice, including time spent away from home, will sometimes be required.
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