COMPETENCIES FOR THE PRACTICE OF EFFECTIVE PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING: CONFIRMATION OF ZERWEKH'S FAMILY CAREGIVING MODEL.
Contributors: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 239
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Public Health.
Description: Zerwekh (1990) identified two areas of competency in public health nursing: Family Care Giving and Nurse Preserving. This study was undertaken to verify the 16 Family Care Giving competencies identified by Zerwekh. Using a researcher-developed survey, confirmation of the use of these competencies in practice and discovery of the perception of the essentiality of these competencies to practice was sought. This study also sought to discover if public health nurses identified additional competencies essential to the delivery of effective care to families and how public health nurses recognized effective use of an identified competency in their interventions with families. The Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition and the philosophical positions of Polanyi and Schon organized and guided this study.

Two hundred surveys were sent to 25 official public health agencies in Northern California. Fifty three percent (n = 106) were returned. The respondents in this study confirmed Zerwekh's competencies as essential to effective practice with families. All competencies were rated as important to their practice. Twelve new competencies were identified by the respondents. These new competencies appear to suggest a need for a broader model for public health nursing than presented by Zerwekh. Ten public health nurses were interviewed to gain insight into how they recognized effective use of Zerwekh's competencies with families. These participants were able to identify visible cues and discuss feelings that confirmed effective use of the competencies. The competencies from Zerwekh's Model most frequently used as examples of effective practice were: Building Trust, Locating, Teaching and Saving the Children.

This study confirmed a conceptual model of competent public health nursing that arose from practice. This model facilitates understanding of the nursing specialty, public health nursing. It further illuminates the process of the work involved in intervening with multi-problem families. This study also validated public health nursing as a complex specialty in nursing with competencies that are essential to its practice.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-05, Section: B, page: 1797.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1994.

School code: 0831.