• Provide students with data to review and identify trends. Some data you might consider are cases of flu, absences in school, no-shows in a clinic, number of visits by chief complaint.
• Discuss how the social determinants of health affect the care you provide. Social determinants that might be examined include socioeconomic level, violence, access to medical care, high school graduation rate and environment/housing conditions.
• Have students talk to staff members who provide services in response to the social determinants of health present in your population.

• Discuss how you use guidelines to plan care.
• Compare your current role to other roles you may have had in nursing.
• Discuss specific training and/or continuing education that is required.
• Discuss ways you promote health among your population.

• Ask students to review information on current or potential partners.
• Have students identify potential resources that could address the social determinants of health for your students.
• Discuss with the student the partnerships which are currently in place.
• Have the student assist with a health promotion project.

• Discuss how your programs are funded.
• Identify a potential ethical situation. Describe the situation to students and have them research state laws, etc., surrounding the issue. For example, a religious exemption for vaccination or sexual health of minors.
• Discuss professional behavior in your setting.
• Allow the student to present a project and demonstrate leadership and professionalism.

The term "population health" was coined in 2003 and defined as "the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group" (Kindig & Stoddart, 2003, para. 2). The authors presented the rationale that the definition includes health outcomes, health determinants, policies and interventions.

Population health preceptors are in any setting, including schools, hospitals, clinics, ambulatory care, hospice and non-profit organizations. The population health lens can be applied to individuals, families, populations or systems.

The clinical practicum sites for BSN population health students are in the Kansas City and Salina area. The sites reflect the multidimensional aspects of population health, including palliative care, hospice, school settings, ambulatory care, home health, non-profit organizations, and clinics. Students typically spend 16 hours per week for seven weeks at the clinical site.

There is an ongoing discussion on the differences and similarities of each term regarding health care delivery (Rohloff, 2015). The population health preceptor may precept students from several area schools of nursing whose courses are titled community health or public health. Although schools have different titles for the courses, many have the same goals for preceptors based on (1) The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice, and (2) The 2018 Quad Council Competencies for Community/Public Health Nurses.

The Population Health Practicum is a two-credit-hour course consisting of a predetermined number of clock hours that include clinical hours, FLA assignments, and meetings with their clinical instructors. Students receive a pass or a fail at the end of the course, and not a letter grade.

Students are expected to be at the agency ready to start when the preceptor would normally start their responsibilities. Students, who are ill or unable to be at clinical, must contact the School of Nursing (SON) clinical faculty and the clinical agency. The preceptor should notify the SON clinical faculty anytime a student is not meeting these expectations. Please do not dismiss early without notifying the SON clinical faculty so they can arrange additional learning opportunities to make up for the hours.

The student does not always have to be with the preceptor when they are doing clinical work at the agency. Students can work with other staff members as delegated by the primary preceptor and if notification is made to the SON clinical faculty.

Students are expected to dress in their SON grey scrub top, grey scrub pants or as determined by the site and with permission from the school. All other dress requirements should be consistent with the dress code expectations of the nursing staff at the agency. The student must ONLY wear the name badge from the SON identifying them as a nursing student.

Students should be making entries in the medical record as if they were an RN in that department. Refer to institution policy for specifics. Students should sign each entry with: (their name), KUSN. The KU SON recommends that the preceptor sign these entries immediately after the student.

Clinical instructors will reach out to preceptors for feedback regarding student performance prior to midterm and final evaluations. If you have information to share between visits, please don't hesitate to contact the clinical instructor. The faculty member will give the midterm and final evaluations. You will be given a form at the end of the rotation evaluating professional conduct.

Preceptors who are working with a student who is not demonstrating the ability to complete the course successfully should contact the SON clinical faculty member as soon as deficits are seen to discuss their concerns and develop a plan of action. The SON clinical faculty is ultimately the one who must decide if the student is performing at a satisfactory level.

The ability of all students to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with appropriate professional nurse expectations is expected by the SON clinical faculty. Students who fail to treat their patients, families, significant others, preceptors, nursing staff, classmates and SON clinical faculty with respect are subject to not only course failure but also a further review of their activities by the SON administration. This same standard of behavior is expected when dealing with information of a confidential nature. Preceptors who have any concerns about a student's conduct in any of these areas should contact the SON clinical faculty member immediately.