Health-culture reorientation of registered nurse students

There is a need for a health-culture reorientation of nurses from acute care to community-based care if the profession is to respond effectively to sociocultural, political, economic, and educational forces moving health care and decision making back into the community. Concepts from anthropology, international health, and transcultural nursing provided the basis for initiating a health-culture reorientation of acute care-oriented (RN-BSN) students enrolled in a population-based community health nursing course given in a weekend format. The course centered on developing a primary health care project from assessment data gathered via the community-as-partner model. Problems encountered, methods of evaluation, and ongoing project development are discussed.