Advancement of Public Health Nursing Education and Practice Sought in NurseLEAD Policy Dialogue 2025

July 04, 2025

Text by Martin Racza, Charmaine A. Lingdas
Photos by Sarah Pulumbarit

*Guest lecturers, facilitators, and participants of the NurseLEAD National Policy Dialogue posed for a group photo after the event.*

Fulfilling its mandate as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Leadership in Nursing Development, the College of Nursing (CN) recently held the NurseLEAD National Policy Dialogue on June 19, 2025, at the Hilton Clark Sun Valley Resort in Clark, Pampanga. The event aimed to bring together nursing leaders, nursing educators, potential advanced practice nurses, policymakers, community leaders, health partners, and key stakeholders to discuss the need for Advanced Practice Nursing and Education in Public Health Nursing in the Philippines.

The policy dialogue highlighted the expanded roles of public health nurses in leadership, management, and collaboration as Advanced Public Health Nurses at different levels of healthcare delivery systems. It examined the current state of public health nursing education and explored strategies for curriculum enhancement, innovative teaching-learning approaches, faculty development, and student support systems.

Dean Sheila Bonito asserted that Advanced Practice Nursing is crucial in addressing the challenges of accessible, safe, and affordable healthcare. APNs are able to provide enhanced, expanded direct healthcare services to improve healthcare outcomes of individuals, families, and communities. She added that in order to develop future public health nurses, nursing institutions need to enhance teaching public health nursing, since nurse educators play a vital role in ensuring that BSN graduates are prepared for practice in public health settings.

Dr. Carlo Irwin A. Panelo, keynote speaker of the event stressed that there is no prescriptive blueprint for how nurses should contribute to Universal Health Care (UHC). Instead, the nursing profession must take the lead in defining its own direction within the broader health agenda

The morning session, “Advancing Public Health Nursing Practice,” showcased how NurseLEAD alumni are leading innovations in adolescent health, referrals, surveillance, and immunization systems. These highlighted the leadership and systems-thinking skills of public health nurses. The session concluded with Asst. Prof. John Joseph B. Posadas delivered a formal Call to Action on the recognition and institutionalization of Advanced Practice in Public Health Nursing (PHN). Drawing from both the core competency framework and the lived realities of PHNs in the field, he emphasized the urgent need to formalize expanded roles across all levels of the public health system.

The afternoon session, “Shaping Public Health Nursing Education,” addressed the gaps between nursing curricula and public health realities. Speakers called for community-focused training, stronger faculty support, and updated learning models. It closed with a Call to Action delivered by Asst. Prof. Jan Vincent T. Delos Santos, urging reforms to align education with Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and real-world PHN roles.

Guest lecturers and presenters came from the Department of Health (DOH), US Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as select public health nurses and nurse educators from the Ilocos Region and the provinces of Quezon, Capiz, and Aklan. #