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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Masako Sakai, RN, PHN, MS¹, Hiroko Nagae, RN, PHN, MS², Kiyomi Asahara, PHN, RN, PhD², Noriko Kato, PHN, RN, MS³, Yumiko Momose, RN, PhD⁴, Maki Umeda, PHN, RN, MS², Junko Omori, RN, PHN, DNSc², and Toshie Miyazaki, PHN, RN, MS⁵. (1) Community Health Nursing, Seirei Christopher University, 3453, Mikatahara, Hamamatsu city,Shizuoka, 433-8558, Japan, 81-53-439-1400, masako-s@seirei.ac.jp, (2) Community Health Nursing, St.Luke's College of Nursing, 10-1, Akashi-cho, Chuo-ku,Tokyo, 104-0044, Japan, (3) Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 1-2-2 kasumigaseki, chiyodaku,Tokyo, Japan, (4) Grerontological Nursing, Aichi Prefectural college of Nursing &Health, Tohgoku,Kamishidmi, Moriyama-ku,Nagoya, 463-8502, Japan, (5) School of Nursing, Toho University, 4-16-20, Omori-Nishi, Ota-ku,Tokyo, 143-0015, Japan

Introduction: As values of people become increasingly diverse, the conflicts that Public Health Nurses (PHNs) experience become more complicated.Our purpose is to clarify how PHNs cope with the conflicts with clients or their families that arise from the differences in their values.

Methods: Sixty-six PHNs who worked at the health and welfare departments of municipalities in a prefecture responded to a questionnaire that included forced-choice and open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Results:Four coping strategies were identified. The PHN: 1) provided care according to his/her own assessment (37.5%), 2) tried to reach an agreement on a care plan with the client and his/her family (28.1%), 3) waited and prepared to intervene without solving the conflict immediately (18.8%),or 4) discussed a solution or alternative care plan (15.6%)with other professionals. In almost half of the cases, PHNs were inconsistent in their ways of coping with conflicts, partly because PHNs differed in their personal and professional values, knowledge, and skills. In addition, their decisions were greatly influenced by the diverse values of the client and his/her family.

Conclusion: The ways PHNs coped with the conflicts with clients or their families largely depended on their personal and professional values. Future research is needed to develop an ethics education program for PHNs and an ethical standard of conduct relating to consistent community health care.

Learning Objectives: