Gap analysis in workplace cultures of public health nurses

Background: The national nursing workforce is expected to decrease by 1 million nurses over the next twenty years. Shortage also has a negative effect on patient outcomes and will impact the ability of the public health nurse (PHN) to provide health promotion/disease prevention activities, protect the public's health, and provide adequate patient services. Workplace culture issues are related to the recruitment and retention of qualified PHN workforce, but in many PHN organizations, satisfaction is unknown.

Methods: This is a descriptive study that will use a random sample of at least 100 registered nurses from 5 states to answer the online Magnetic Resource Inventory (MRI) survey that includes 12 categories with 70 questions, as well as additional questions covering five critical areas - PHN Core Competencies, disaster preparedness, additional education, practice, and shared governance. The questions use a 5-point Likert scale and are designed to measure the employee views about workplace culture and performance issues.

Results: At the completion of this DNP project, positive and/or negative findings will provide data from each of the categories and critical areas, the data will be compared, and the information will be utilized to identify strategies to improve the workforce culture through targeted organizational planning.

Conclusions: Utilization of the survey results will allow PHN workforce organizations the opportunity to prioritize, plan, and implement interventions aimed at improving the culture of the workplace, increasing recruitment and retention of PHNs, and ultimately improving patient outcomes.