 |
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
|
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Margaret Diekemper, RN, MSN, CS1, Sheila Leander, RN, MSN2, and Lee Smith-Battle, DnSc, RN2. (1) Nursing, Maryville University, 8039 Gannon, St. Louis, MO 63130, 314-727-3383, margaret@maryville.edu, (2) Saint Louis University, 3545 Caroline St., St. Louis, MO 63104
Two successive qualitative nursing studies involving 60 nurses have been conducted in a Midwest metropolitan area to examine the development of public health nursing (PHN) practice. While the first study focused on the development and nature of the practice of mostly experienced and expert staff nurses, this paper is based on a second study that included a larger sample of less experienced PHNs and a group of supervisors as well. For this paper, narratives from agency “families” (staff, supervisors, and administrators from the same agency) were analyzed using the interpretive phenomenological method. Themes and issues that emerged in the narratives included: the impact on PHN practice of explicit administrative guidance and directives, the effects of financial and reimbursement-driven policies on PHN practice, the role of relevant PHN experience for supervisory effectiveness, the impact of organized mentoring and ongoing staff development to promote PHN excellence, and PHN practice as a reflection of administrative understanding of larger public health issues and practices. While PHNs confront the day-to-day challenges of work with vulnerable families and populations, agency management can chart the future course of that PHN practice. This is through their own understandings and use of management strategies that are sensitive to the unique needs of a public health nurse workforce. Successful PHN practice depends on not only the individual nurse’s understandings of her own work, but on the larger expectations communicated by administrative policies and directives.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement: