Competency Reflection on CollaborationThe sixth Henry Street Consortium Entry-Level Public Health Nursing Competency utilizes collaboration to achieve public health goals. Reflecting on the collaborat

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Introduction:
Collaboration is an essential competency for public health nurses to achieve public health goals. As a medical professor, I have had the opportunity to engage in public health activities that demonstrate this competency. This reflection will describe a public health activity I participated in, the artifact I selected to represent my learning, and discuss my professional growth in the context of this activity and its relationship to the competency. Additionally, I will connect the activity to population-based public health nursing practice and describe the interventions and levels of prevention covered.

Public Health Activity:
The public health activity that reflects my collaboration competency involves a community health fair aimed at educating individuals about the importance of vaccination. The objective of the health fair was to increase vaccination rates in our community by providing information, resources, and answering questions related to vaccinations.

Artifact:
The artifact I selected to represent my learning is a pamphlet we created for the health fair. The pamphlet includes information about vaccination, the benefits of vaccination, and a schedule of recommended vaccines based on age. It was created collaboratively with other nursing students and medical professionals.

Reflection on Individual Learning and Professional Growth:
Participating in the health fair allowed me to learn and grow professionally in different ways. Firstly, the experience enabled me to gain knowledge on the importance of vaccinations and strengthened my skills in collaborating with others to achieve a common goal. Working with other nurses allowed me to improve my communication skills, understand different opinions and work effectively as a team.

In terms of the process, I found the development of the pamphlet useful in improving my organization and planning skills. The experience also allowed me to appreciate the importance of educating the public and how the power of collaboration can drive change. To improve this activity, we could have targeted non-English speaking communities that may have lower vaccination rates due to language barriers.

Connect the Activity to Public Health Nursing Practice:
The community health fair connects to the population-based public health nursing practice because it focuses on increasing vaccination rates for a particular population. One of the interventions from the Public Health Nursing Intervention Wheel that we used was health teaching, which primarily focuses on promoting health and preventing disease through education. We utilized community-level interventions as we provided education and resources to individuals about vaccinations, and system-level intervention through collaborating with medical professionals and organizations to drive vaccination awareness.

Level(s) of Prevention:
The activity covered all three levels of prevention. Primary prevention involved providing education on vaccinations and how it prevents diseases. Secondary prevention involved encouraging individuals to receive vaccinations, which helps reduce the risk of the disease spreading. Tertiary prevention involved providing resources and education to individuals who already had the disease, thus preventing further complications.

Conclusion:
In summary, the community health fair allowed me to develop and demonstrate my collaboration competency as a public health nurse. The artifact we created, in collaboration with other nursing students and medical professionals, represents my learning and growth in various areas of my professional practice. As a future nurse, I recognize the importance of collaboration to achieve public health goals and plan to continue developing this competency.