Morita Takae

The number of children requiring medical care is on the rise, reducing childcare burdens and establishing support systems' urgent undertakings. Public health nurses at public health centers are in a position to shoulder these responsibilities. This study aimed to clarify the activities performed by public health nurses at public health centers for children requiring medical care based on the content of support in individual cases. Interview surveys covering a summary of support and community resources were conducted for four individual cases. Analysis was performed using the practical competencies framework required of public health nurses at public health centers.As a result, 260 activities of public health nurses were organized into 79 codes and 39 categories and categorized according to the framework of practical competencies required of public health nurses at public health centers. Public health nurses at public health centers were found to provide direct support, categorized into“interpersonal support competency,”based on the prerequisite that patients require 24-hour medical care, and characterized by connecting medicine and welfare to manage the family unit. Public health nurses also provide indirect support, categorized into“community support competency,”“policy competency,”and“management competency,”in which they were understood to be attempting to build a care system through individual support.

This study aimed to clarify outcome of the public health nursing practice conducted under the influence of COVID-19. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire survey was performed for 4th grader students at University from 2018 through 2020. The investigation items consisted of basic attributes, impression of public health nurse activity, learning motivation and learning target items. We compared shortened clinical practice and online practice enforced in 2020 and before. For 217 effective answers,＂A public health nurse was involved in practice sufficiently＂ was significantly low. In top learning achievement scores of 2020 included many of the items from the the learning target＂Process of public health nursing activity＂ and ＂Role and function of public health center and municipalities. In 2018 and 2019, learning achievement degrees were over 80% in 94.3% of 53 items while on the other hand it was only 32.1% in 2020. Learning achievement degrees were less than 60% in no items in 2018 and 2019 while it was 15.1% in 2020. For the techniques of health service and health practice for which the learning achievement degree were low in 2020, it is necessary to support students so that they can acquire them as a public health nursing practice ability.