Dr Sanjay Gupta, CNN News, delivered the closing session address. He told attendees "cancer is and continues to be a national threat." Dr. Gupta stated that it is important that the presidential candidates address this issue. Dr. Gupta represented the Lance Armstrong Foundation and stated that a number of the presidential candidates spoke at a recent forum hosted by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Opening Session

Julie Gerberding, M.D., MPH, Center for Disease Control Director, opened the 135th Annual Session of the American Public Health Association. Julie Gerberding told attendees that there are times public health workers have to seek out different methods to ease the burden on the public's health. She equates public health workers as fireflies who represent "flashes of brillance" but Dr. Gerberrding said that even though each public health worker flashes their own light they have not been able to link together as a collective unit in a sustainable way. Dr Gerberding blames this on the failure of the country to properly invest in the public health system and to address public health inequatlies

American Public Health Association

The annual American Public Health Association annual meeting will be held November 3, 2007 thru November 7, 2007 in Washington D.C. APHA is the premier public health educational forum. Watch this blog for daily highlights of the conference.

American Public Health Association

Methylcillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

The Future of Public Health

In 1920 CEA Winslow, Professor of Public Health at Yale and leading figure in the history of public health, described the public health practice as the science and art of disease; prolonging life and promoting health and well-being through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the contol of the communicable infections, the organization of medical and nursing servicesnfor the early diagnosis and prevention of disease, the education of the individual in personal health and the development of the social machinery to assure everyone a standard living adequate for the maintenance or improvement of health.

This definition is still pertinent today, over 85 years later.

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Planning_eval/CHAI/Resources/FieldGuide/6CommHealthStatus/CHSATerminology.htm

The New York State Nurses Association states that the role of the public health nurse is critical to the promotion and maintenance of the public’s health; the public’s health is at much greater risk without enhanced public funding to bolster the public health nursing workforce; and public health nursing recruitment could be enhanced with better access to formal public health education, clinical and managerial education, and advanced public health nursing education especially in rural areas.

Living With Diabetes

Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. The disease affects an estimated 18.2 million people, 5.2 million are unaware they have the disease and an additional 1 million new cases are diagnosed each year. Diabetes is greater in minority populations over age 20: 8.4%million Whites, 11.4% million Blacks, 8.2 Hispanics. Heart disease is the leading cause of deaths among people living with diabetes. Preventive practices such as diet, exercise, smoking cessation, eye examination ad annual checkups can prevent or delay the incidence of diabetes related complications. A study conducted by Carol R. Williams Oladele and Elizabeth Barnett utilized the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to examine racial/ethnic disparities in recommended practices for diabetes. The study results suggested that health education and promotion targeted toward minority populations have been effective. The study recommends future research to examine the influence types of insurance have on the access to laboratory preventive care practices. Reference: Barnett E, Oladele C R. (2006). Racial/ethnic and social class differences in preventive care practices among persons with diabetes. BMC Public Health. http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/6599_pnt

Quad Council

The Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations is an alliance of the four national nursing organizations:

• Association of Community Health Nurse Educators (ACHNE)
• American Nurses Association's Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics (ANA)
• American Public Health Association - Public Health Nursing Section (APHA)
• Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing (ASTDN).

The purpose of the Quad Council is to address public health nursing issues.

The Quad Council has drafted a set of national public health nursing competencies utilizing the Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice(COL) Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals. They applied these competencies to two levels of public health nursing practice: staff nurse/generalist and manager/specialist/consultant role. The Quad Council's Public Health Nurse Competencies is designed to be used with and compliment the "Definition of Public Health Nursing" adopted by the APHA.

In the midst of the nursing shortage the shortage of public health nurses in particular needs to be addressed. According to research by the Quad Council some of the specific reasons for the shortage of public health nurses are:

• Overall shortage of registered nurses;
• An aging population;
• Poorly funded Public health System on a national, state and local level that result in inadequate salaries;
• Reduction and/or elimination of public health nursing positions;
• Shortage of nurse faculty adequately prepared to teach public health nursing;
• Invisibility of public health nursing to media and marketing campaigns.