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Could You Be the Next Florence Nightingale?

Explore important aspects of public health and the role of modern nursing within it.

997 enrolled on this course

  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    6 hours
This course is part of the program Nursing and Public Health, which is one of the building blocks that leads to a degree in MSc Nursing. Find out more.

Explore the responsibility of a nurse in public health

Some consider Florence Nightingale the founder of modern nursing. Within the scientific community she is credited for initiating nursing training and education programmes, but rarely acknowledged as a social reformer and public health campaigner.

Arguably, public health and the promotion of health and well-being is now at the centre of national and global agendas. This course reflects on the value of nurses as promoters of health.

What topics will you cover?

Week 1 – Going upstream

  • Determinants of health
  • Changing practice
  • The future of public health

Week 2 – Health promotion in practice

  • The nurse as a promoter of health
  • The nurse as a health promoter

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Evaluate the role of the nurse within public health
  • Explore the globalisation of public health needs
  • Reflect on the value of nurses as promoters of health

Who is the course for?

If you are an experienced nurse wanting or needing to extend the value of nurses as promoters of health, this course is for you.

Please note that the individuals detailed in the ‘Who will you learn with?’ section below, are current staff members and may be subject to change.

Who will you learn with?

A senior nurse specialising in the care of patients with renal and urological disorders. 20 years experience in education, including in South Africa. MSc Nursing Course Director online and on campus.

I am a Senior Lecturer in Nursing at Coventry University, where I teach public health, and a registered nurse, midwife and health visitor. I have an interest in child and family health and wellbeing.

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992
  • Location

    Coventry

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

Advance your career with a degree

Since 2017 you have been able to take a degree on FutureLearn. This free course is a bit like a starter course for a degree — it should give you a flavour of the degree subject but can also be your first step towards a degree qualification.

If you enjoy this course you can apply to join the program it’s part of to start working towards a degree on FutureLearn.

Don’t worry, you can still take the course without doing a full degree!

Do the free course
Join and complete the program
Get academic credit for an online degree from Coventry University
This course is part of the program Nursing and Public Health, which is one of the building blocks that leads to a degree in MSc Nursing.

This program will encourage you to think critically about the improvement of population health and wellbeing and the role of nursing in public health.

Do you know someone who'd love this course? Tell them about it...

You can use the hashtag #florencenightingale to talk about this course on social media.