California State University, Long Beach
Department of Nursing
Joint MSN/MPH
Advanced Practice Community Health Nursing/MPH in Health Education
Purpose:
The primary purpose of the program is to prepare registered nurses as master degree
Clinical Specialists in the area of Community/Public Health Nursing. The graduates will
possess advanced knowledge in the areas of community and public health nursing and
complete graduate course work in the following component areas: 1) expert clinical
practice in community health, 2) health education, 3) research and epidemiology, 4)
consultation and 5) leadership. Graduates of the Joint MSN/MPH Program are eligible
for National Certification as Clinical Specialists in Community/Public Health by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center and certification as Community Health Education
Specialists (CHES) by the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing.
Graduates of the Joint MSN/MPH program are prepared in the essential concepts of both
nursing and public health sciences and they can assume an interdisciplinary leadership
role in health promotion and disease prevention programs.
Curriculum:
The curriculum of the Joint MSN/MPH Program is based on an interdisciplinary course
of study with students completing coursework in nursing and health science. The
theoretical basis for the program is population-focused theory, epidemiology, nursing
process and health promotion and disease prevention. Common threads throughout the
program are the needs of at-risk, under served and multicultural populations, health
assessment, health education, expert clinical practice, program development and
evaluation. Over 50% of the clinical practicum experiences are designed to occur in
medically under served communities. Clinical practicum are developed in areas which
provide services to at-risk populations. Clinical assignments include cultural immersion
and active participation in program development, implementation and evaluation.
Clinical practicums are selected based on the program objectives and the individual
learning needs of each student. Clinical preceptors are highly qualified public health
professionals from a wide variety of intuitions. These preceptors and clinical settings
provide sufficient opportunity for the graduate student to obtain experience and
knowledge to meet the program, course and individual learning objectives.