Master's Degree in Community Nursing - Community Health and Public Health nursing area

1. To know the organic/functional model in the area of intervention of the Community Care Unit (UCC) and Public Health Unit (USP);
2. To identify community resources and their association with UCC and USP projects/activities;
3. To design, plan and implement interventions aimed at building the capacity of groups and communities, within the scope of national health programs and community projects;
4. To participate in the monitoring of the health status of groups and/or the communities and its determinants;
5. To characterize the health problems of groups and/or communities identified in the context of the practice of community and public health nursing in UCC or USP.
6. To develop interventions of epidemiological surveillance and response to Public Health Emergencies.

The clinical practice of Community and Public Health Nursing is inserted in the fields of prevention, promotion and protection of the health of individuals, families, and groups/communities. Its purpose is to provide learning conditions for students to develop specialized skills according to the profile of specific competencies for the Nurse Specialist in Community Nursing, in the area of Community and Public Health Nursing (Reg. No. 428/2018).
It is recommended that students develop nursing interventions integrated in the multidisciplinary teams of the functional health units (UCC and USP), namely to identify determinants of health problems and needs of groups/communities; prioritize the needs and problems identified; develop and use epidemiological indicators; promote and participate in intervention programs for the empowerment of groups/communities; perform and cooperate in epidemiological surveillance.

Clinical practice in a care delivery setting requires the student, at an early stage, to observe and analyze the work developed by the specialist nurse and consult the plans, programs and projects/activities being developed at the UCC and USP so as to participate, later on, in the action plan, which will allow him/her to know the organic/functional model of these units, as well as identify the community resources and their association with ongoing projects/activities.
To achieve the 3rd objective, the student will have to design and implement training interventions for groups/communities, as part of the plans, programs and projects of the functional units where their clinical practice will take place.
During the delivery of care, the student has to monitor the health status of groups and/or communities using the epidemiological indicators at the UCC or USP. His/her intervention is also expected to include the development of epidemiological surveillance activities and the response to Public Health Emergencies.

The clinical practice takes place in healthcare units (UCC and USP).
The coordination and evaluation of the teaching-learning process is the responsibility of a teacher from the programme’s faculty, with a specialization in community nursing.
The clinical practice is based on the pedagogical and clinical supervision model. A teacher will guide the student in collaboration with the specialist nurse in this area working at the units where the clinical practice will occur. The training process will be systematically assessed.
The student elaborates a critical report, in which he/she contextualizes and characterizes a health problem of a group and/or community that he/she identified as a priority at the UCC or USP, in the context of the clinical practice in community and public health nursing. He/she then designs an intervention project.
The assessment is continuous, with quantitative assessment (0 to 20 points). The final classification results from the sum of the performance evaluation (50%), report evaluation (40%), and intervention project evaluation (10%).

The clinical practice is developed in Primary Health Care functional units: UCC and USP.
The clinical supervision by a nurse holding the title of specialist allows the student to observe and analyze the organic/functional functioning of the functional units, as well as identify the community resources and their association with the projects/activities of the UCC and USP. The supervision by the nurse who cooperates in the students’ training promotes the learning experiences in clinical practice, allowing the student to participate and develop interventions, transfer theoretical knowledge to practice, through participation in group and community training activities, monitor the health status of groups and/or communities and its determinants, as well as develop epidemiological surveillance activities and provide a response to Public Health Emergencies.
The methodology is active and student-centered, which is evidenced by the elaboration of a critical report and a project.
The report is organized around the contextualization and characterization of a health problem of a group and/or community, with description of methodologies and strategies. It will be presented and discussed at the end of the clinical practice. The report allows the student to systematize and critically analyze the activities developed during the clinical practice, as well as to put in evidence the student's learning outcomes at the end of the course unit.
In this final document, the student contextualizes and characterizes his/her experience, with a description of the activities developed, critical analysis of the objectives/expectations, and identification of a health problem of a group and/or community, in which he/she delivers care.
The intervention project, resulting from the problem identified in a group and/or community, will be presented and discussed with the teacher and supervising nurse who cooperates in the students’ training. Both of them will give their opinion on the feasibility of the objectives and the possibility of implementation of the activities.

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Neves, M., Tanqueiro, T., Veríssimo, C. M., & Silva, M. (2013). O conceito de Equipa no contexto da reforma dos Cuidados de Saúde Primários em Portugal: implicações para a enfermagem. Revista de Investigação em Enfermagem, 2 (2) 65-70.
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