COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING MASTER'S EDUCATION PROGRAM IN IRAN AND UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO

Considering the importance of a community health nursing master's program in providing effective health services and promoting community health, it is necessary to compare educational programs to examine and identify the strengths and weaknesses of educational programs in nursing. Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare the educational program of the master's degree program in community health nursing at the nursing school of Iran and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

This comparative descriptive study was conducted at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 2023. The educational program for the master's degree in community health nursing approved by the Iranian Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education and UCSF University were extracted from the relevant sites and described, interpreted, compared, and analyzed using the Bereday four-stage model.

The community health nursing degree at UCSF was offered in two sub-fields (health policy and advanced community health nursing). The strategies, educational techniques, and students' roles were similar in Iran and UCSF. The definition of the major, the way of admission, philosophy, vision, mission, objectives, and titles of the courses were different.

The master's degree in community health nursing has been presented more fully and follows society's needs according to the university's mission and goal in the U.S.A. One of the most important strengths of the program at USCF was the training of leaders through the roles of the graduates to make policies and lead programs to promote and maintain health, equality, justice, and part-time educational conditions. Therefore, we should strengthen the strengths and correct the weaknesses based on the experiences of developed countries and the context of our country's society.