On today’s ‘Best Of PHRME’ episode, ASTHO revisits an interview with Dan Edney, ASTHO member and state health officer with the Mississippi Department of Health, who explains what the state is doing to meet the public health needs of rural communities across the state. This episode also features a segment with Shirley Orr, executive director of the Association of Public Health Nurses...
On today’s ‘Best Of PHRME’ episode, ASTHO revisits an interview with Dan Edney, ASTHO member and state health officer with the Mississippi Department of Health, who explains what the state is doing to meet the public health needs of rural communities across the state. This episode also features a segment with Shirley Orr, executive director of the Association of Public Health Nurses and lead speaker for ASTHO’s Public Health Nursing Workforce Learning Lab series, who discusses what motivates nurses to enter the public health field. The fifth and final webinar in the series is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. ET.
ASTHO Public Health Nursing Workforce Learning Lab
Sustaining Accreditation Through Smart Documentation Systems
JENNIFER JEAN-PIERRE:
Welcome to Public Health Review Morning Edition. I'm Jen Jean-Pierre.
We're hard at work bringing you a refreshed experience of the show, launching on Public Health Thank You Day, November 24. In the meantime, enjoy this favorite episode from our archives.
JANSON SILVERS:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, August 21, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
DANIEL EDNEY:
The majority of Mississippians live in rural areas, and so, rural health is critically important.
SILVERS:
The Mississippi Department of Public Health is working to protect the health of its rural citizens through critical studies and public health programming. Dr. Dan Edney, ASTHO member and state health officer with the Mississippi Department of Health, tells us what the state is doing to ensure community needs are met across every county in the state.
EDNEY:
We have our new center, the Mississippi Center for Rural Health and Population Health Studies, and within that, we have the Office of State Health Policy and Planning, whose total job is to study healthcare comprehensively in our state.
SILVERS:
Mississippi is set to receive the Rural Health Transformation Grant in 2026 through the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services.
EDNEY:
Now, we have some shovel-ready projects that have funding, things that we've been studying the last three years and projected solutions, but funding not being available, now, we have funding to look at, hopefully operationalizing some of these things.
SILVERS:
Edney says federal partnerships are needed to empower Mississippi to serve its people.
EDNEY:
Public health policy and the agenda of public health in Mississippi cannot be dictated from Washington or Atlanta. We have to decide that here in Mississippi, but we need to absolutely do it in partnership with the CDC, HRSA, SAMHSA, CMS. We can't, we can't do it alone, but I do say that we need to be in the driver's seat.
SILVERS:
To learn more about Mississippi's approach, check out the link in the show notes.
A new ASTHO Learning Lab Series will bring together public health nurses to explore ways to strengthen the nursing workforce in the field. Shirley Orr, executive director for the Association of Public Health Nurses, who will lead the series, shares what may motivate nurses to pursue careers in public health.
SHIRLEY ORR:
We know that public health nurses often stay because they love the work, and particularly, if there is some flexibility, if they're able to have some autonomy in their role and some discretion in terms of how they perform their work, some flexibility in scheduling, that sort of thing, really helped to increase their satisfaction with their job.
SILVERS:
Orr says public health's mission is often a key factor for those interested in the field.
ORR:
The roots of Public Health Nursing are really deeply embedded in social justice. Nurses that want to work toward bringing communities to their optimal state of health often are drawn to that work.
SILVERS:
For nurses who may not have been exposed to public health in their formal education, Orr says certifications can play a role.
ORR:
We're working along with the National Board of Public Health Examiners to establish a new public health nursing certification process, and just having that process and providing some study groups and resources is something that we believe will really help those newer nurses to become more confident in their roles and feel that they're more able to serve their communities.
SILVERS:
You can learn more about the Public Health Nursing Workforce Learning Lab Series on ASTHO's website. We have a link in the show notes.
JENNIFER JEAN-PIERRE:
Also, on Thursday, November 6, ASTHO is hosting a webinar to share reliable, long-term strategies for developing documentation tracking systems that are engaging and sustain agency accreditation readiness. Click on the link in the show notes to register for the event.
Thank you for listening to Public Health Review Morning Edition. I'm Jen Jean-Pierre, until next time.
