Alternative capstone nursing experience to scale up testing and case investigation.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nursing Education
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for robust public health infrastructure, including testing, case investigation, and contact tracing.
• Baccalaureate nursing students represent a potential surge workforce for public health initiatives during emergencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore baccalaureate nursing students' perceptions of their roles in public health surveillance and case investigation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To assess the value of academic-public health partnerships in training future nurses.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive survey with open-ended interview questions was administered to senior baccalaureate nursing students (n=10).
• Students participated in concurrent roles as case investigators for a local health department and surveillance testers for their college.
• Data collection occurred over an eight-week period during the fall 2020 semester.

Main Results:

• Student responses revealed common themes of learning and appreciation for an "eye-opening" experience.
• Key themes included a developed sense of purpose, the importance of communication, education, and teamwork.
• Experiences were contextualized within the framework of public health nursing.

Conclusions:

• Baccalaureate nursing students can serve as a valuable, untapped workforce in academic partnerships supporting public health surveillance and case investigation.
• The partnership provided students with critical exposure to the essential nature of public health nursing.
• This model can be applied to future public health crises to bolster response capacity.