title: Public health nursing education in Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Public health nurses are key personnel in promoting and protecting the health of populations using knowledge from the nursing, social, and public health sciences. In Saudi Arabia, the nursing profession requires the integration of public health education and associated competencies in the nursing curriculum. In this paper, we aim to highlight the importance of public health nursing in overcoming the challenges associated with epidemiological transitions and responding to the health needs of rising populations, describe the development of the nursing profession in Saudi Arabia, and recommend public health teaching and training objectives for nursing education. The future Saudi public health nurse should be competent in addressing the determinants of health and illness that are salient to a culturally distinct group. This newly outlined role for public health nurses will maximize the use of the educated Saudi nursing workforce and will fill the gap in population public health needs in an efficient and effective way.
authors.affiliation: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Saudi Arabia. jradiho@ngha.med.sa
authors.forename: Hoda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jradi
authors.forename: Amal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaidan
authors.forename: Ali M Al
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Shehri
mesh_terms: D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods; D003479:Curriculum; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000639:trends; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D011637:Public Health Nursing / Q000193:education*; D012529:Saudi Arabia