The Population-Focused Analysis Project for teaching community health

New instructional methodologies that foster student inquiry, critical thinking, accountability, group work, and self-mastery skills must be created to meet the challenges of modern community health nursing. Bold steps need to be taken to examine current nursing curricula and institute innovative teaching-learning methods to achieve these outcomes. Designing a unique way of providing clinical practice in community assessment is one step toward achieving these goals. The purpose of this article is to share the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Population Focused Analysis Project (PFAP). This new approach to community assessment for baccalaureate nursing students links theory and clinical practice and provides students with an opportunity to learn about and implement the core functions of public health in relation to a selected population.