Study curriculum | Accreditation [PDF]

According to WHO and EU recommendations and standards, adequately professionally trained and educated nurses are needed. Consequently, Croatian health care system needs nurses who possess not only elementary knowledge and skills of nursing care, but also those educated at a higher level who can competently work in public health system. Health and nursing care in public health system is a synthesis of practical and theoretical knowledge the principal aim of which is promotion and protection of health in a community. Care is focused on the family, groups and individuals in all periods of their life span. (WHO, 1990). Traditionally, the activities of nursing care in a community have been reduced mainly to providing health and/or nursing care to the sick or healthy individuals in their families, or in health centres. Unlike tradition nursing, public health care has increasingly focused nursing activities to working in a community as a whole and to working with specific groups of population. The role of working with individuals and theirs families is by no means lost but, moreover, the nurses are more and more included into the assessment of the individual’s needs in terms of care provided at home and support to family members and friends in their gaining skills and knowledge needed for self-care and care for others. The activities include health education and supervision, with special emphasis to the building of self-respect and self-determination of an individual, the family and the community, teaching and supervising the activities of other health workers, care of the sick, referring to other health services, collaboration and coordination with social, economic and political community sectors, which, when well coordinated, should all contribute to the overall social development. Within the public health activities a nurse should be an advocate of human rights to health and health care, based on values and principles of “Health for All”, especially in terms of the following:

  • Equality – active work on equalising is the essence of “health for all”
  • Deep sense for ethics – supporting decisions affecting the health of an individual, of a community, and the whole population
  • Active participation of the population in all form of health care
  • Promotion of health and prevention of disease
  • Satisfaction of basic health needs of a community
  • Inter-sartorial collaboration – active team work with health and other sectors
  • International collaboration – ensuring environmental protection and conditions for healthy living.

The graduate study of nursing in the field of public health, following the completion of three year pre-graduate study program, is considered the highest professional education level in EU countries that enables completely independent activities within the competences agreed upon and stated in relevant nursing acts (Croatian Act on Nursing, 2004) The objectives of specialist study program are to teach the students the following:

  • How to analyse health conditions with the purpose of identifying public health problems
  • How to investigate the public health problem, define the risk factors, assess the needs for health care and make diagnosis
  • How to inform, teach and encourage people in asking for their own rights in the field of health care
  • How to mobilise all the available resources with purpose of identifying and solving public health problems
  • How to plan and affect the creation of support needed in the solving of public health problems
  • How to improve legal regulations with the purpose of providing better health care
  • How to help people to be better connected with their health institutions
  • How to evaluate goals and follow-up quality of health care.

Basic study areas:

  • Public health – principles and practice (assessment of needs, definition of priorities, identification of risk factors, procedures and problem solving methods )
  • Epidemiology
  • Health education
  • Vital statistics
  • Prevention of chronic non-infectious diseases
  • Prevention of infectious diseases
  • Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases
  • Organisation and management in public health
  • Supervision of nursing care practice – algorithms

Specific objectives:

  • Development of specific knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to work in public health system
  • Development of knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable adequate assessment of the population’s needs for types and forms of health care
  • Development of knowledge, ability and attitudes needed to actively participate in changes within a social community aimed at promotion of health and quality of health care
  • To develop the skill of critical analysis, synthesis and evaluation of jobs concerned with organisation and management
  • To develop the ability of decision making in or about the nursing care procedures in unpredicted circumstances
  • To develop the skill of recognising and defining complex problems and finding ways to solve them.

General informations

Teaching Institution University of Applied Health Studies

Name of the Study Specialist graduate professional study – Public Health

Duration Two (2) academic years (4 semesters).

Admission Conditions Fully completed three-year professional study of nursing; state board examination; knowledge of English and computer literacy; adequate professional experience is considered an advantage but is not a prerequisite.

Competences of Graduate Students

Opis zvanja i poslova

Upon completion of curricular requirements the graduate students will be able to do the following:

  • assess, plan and implement systemic, evaluated and controlled health and nursing care oriented toward satisfaction of health needs of both healthy and sick individuals, families and community as a whole
  • develop and promote with full responsibility one’s own opinion and bring decisions within one’s competences
  • properly analyse public health problems and act in accordance with the highest standards of the practice
  • develop critical opinion
  • fully utilise compute technology
  • organise and manage health and nursing care in the field of public health
  • promote inter-sectorial collaboration.

Competences of Graduate Students

  1. Supervision and management of quantity and quality of nursing care.
  2. Promotion of professional competences at macro level.
  3. Assessment through data collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation.
  4. Nursing and health care planning / the standards of practice, processes and objectives.
  5. Implementation of nursing care – carrying out of basic and special care – carrying out of nursing and health care interventions – care about environment.
  6. Reporting and documentation about the provided nursing care at micro and macro levels.
  7. Promotion of health and health education.
  8. Analysis of health status aimed at identification of public health problems.
  9. Investigation of public health problems, definition of risk factors, assessment of health and nursing care needs and making diagnosis.
  10. Informing, teaching and encouraging people to ask for their right in the area of health care.
  11. Mobilisation of all available resources with the purpose of identification and solving of public health problems.
  12. Assisting people in their connection with health care institutions
  13. Promotion of legal regulations concerning health care.

Job Skills Upon graduation the nursing professional will be capable to perform all the above stated competences. Opportunity for Continuing Education The graduates will be able to continue their education in other institutions of higher education in biomedicine, the programs of which are to a great extent compatible with the completed study program in the country or abroad (diploma supplement), and according to legal acts (for doctoral degree). Professional Title M. A. in nursing

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