Day 3- Cheers to National PH Week from Public Health Nurses in Michigan!
Belinda Aberle, Public Health Nursing Section
In the “garden” of our nation’s health, public health nurses (PHNs) can be thought of landscape architects—designing and cultivating gardens with well-nourished roots, bridges to resources, and soil well-being for thriving, equitable public gardens.
PHNs are “knee-deep” in the soil; they are program managers, researchers, educators and directors who:
- At the state and local level, engage in advocacy in maternal and infant health and climate change
- Know upstream and root causes of their communities’ health
- Work in communities, homes, clinics, & health departments, providing resources connections, screening, education and advocacy
- Reduce health inequalities as care coordinators in maternal child-health, vaccine programs, health screenings, school health programs
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Cheers to National PH week from Public Health Nurses in Michigan!
In the “garden” of our nation’s health, public health nurses (PHNs) can be thought of landscape architects—designing and cultivating gardens with well-nourished roots, bridges to resources, and soil well-being for thriving, equitable public gardens.
PHNs are “knee-deep” in the soil; they are program managers, researchers, educators and directors who:
- Know upstream and root causes of their communities’ health
- Work in communities, homes, clinics, & health departments, providing resources connections, screening, education and advocacy
- Reduce health inequalities as care coordinators in maternal child-health, vaccine programs, health screenings, school health programs
- At the state and local level, engage in advocacy in maternal and infant health and climate change
PHNs celebrate the Michigan PH landscape’s successes in 2025:
- the Survey of Michigan Nurses showed that Michigan PH nurses felt the most prepared to assess SDOH and connect patients to local community resources, of all nurses’ roles surveyed
- Michigan recorded its lowest rate of infant mortality in history in 2025.
- Many public health efforts contributed to this success, including but not limited to:
- Sites adopting the CenteringPregnacy approach to prenatal care
- Providing more education on infant safe sleep.
- Many public health efforts contributed to this success, including but not limited to:
- MDHHS adopted updated vaccine recommendations for Michigan, aligning with guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
- MDHHS reinforced the science that supports vaccine safety and efficacy – emphasizing the overwhelming body of evidence that clearly shows that there is no causal link between vaccines and autism.
- A recently published MDHHS study showed how our state’s harm reduction efforts have made significant impacts in reducing overdose deaths, hospitalizations and cases of hepatitis C – ultimately, saving more lives.
PH nurses are proud to be soil and plant nurturers and planners, in the landscape of our state and our nation’s public health!
Updated 04/08/2026