Public Health and Nursing: The Greatest Wealth is Health

Examine the responsibility of a nurse in public health

It is important that, as a nurse, you think critically about health and wellbeing and evaluate how your own values, beliefs, and attitudes regarding health inequalities may impact on your assumptions and approach to public health in everyday practice.

On this course, you’ll be encouraged to think about the meaning of health and consider holistic, medical, and social approaches to it.

Understand different models of health and wellbeing

You’ll explore different health models, critiquing the medical model of health, and exploring the social model and the ‘salutogenic’ approach to health.

You’ll have the chance to define what wellbeing means in practice, and understand why it matters in the context of health promotion and social reform.

Identify why health inequalities exist

As a nurse, it’s important to bear in mind that not everyone has equal access to healthcare.

Alongside health experts at Coventry, you’ll learn why health inequalities between rich and poor persist, exploring both social and behavioural factors.

Finally, you’ll look at how we can tackle these health inequalities, including examining the distribution of power and resources in society.

This course is designed for experienced nurses wanting or needing to extend their understanding of how nurses can act as promoters of health.

This course is designed for experienced nurses wanting or needing to extend their understanding of how nurses can act as promoters of health.

This course is designed for experienced nurses wanting or needing to extend their understanding of how nurses can act as promoters of health.

• Evaluate critically the contribution of lay, official and professional accounts of health as approaches to promoting public health
• Discuss the importance of wellbeing to the public health agenda
• Develop a critical understanding of the possible explanations for the causes of health inequalities
• Assess the role of the nurse in working for health equity