A QUALITATIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPETENCIES OF EXPERT PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES (NURSES, HOME VISITATION NURSES).
Contributors: Seattle University.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 246
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Public Health.
Description: The purpose of the study was to describe the practice competencies of expert home visiting public health nurses. The study was first grounded in the naming of selected historical public health nursing competencies, obtained by interpreting early published anecdotes. The contemporary sample consisted of thirty highly experienced western Washington nurses, with a mean of fourteen years in public health. They were asked to describe clinical examples wherein they made a difference in the outcome of high-risk maternal/child cases visited at home. Clinical anecdotes about ninety-five families were recorded and interpreted using a phenomenological perspective and constant comparative methodology. Two spheres of public health nursing competency were identified and illustrated: Family Caregiving and Nurse Preserving. The Family Caregiving Sphere includes sixteen nursing competencies with the competency of Encouraging Self-Care at the hub. Locating the Family, Building Trust, and Building Strength are at the foundation, and all competencies are encompassed by expert Timing and Detecting. The Nurse Preserving Sphere is a reflection of the increasing hardships of clients which impact nurses visiting and includes Struggling with Adversity, Confronting the Threat of Violence, and Preserving Nurse Wellbeing. This naming of practice models and competencies clarifies the practice knowledge of clinicians and provides language for its articulation and expansion. Selections from the collection of 167 illustrative excerpts can stimulate dialogical teaching and be developed as case studies and simulations. As the distress of America's most vulnerable young families is acknowledged by the American public, it is hoped that this study's articulation of public health nursing solutions can be brought to the attention of policy-makers.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-06, Section: B, page: 2824.

Thesis (ED.D.)--SEATTLE UNIVERSITY, 1990.

School code: 0551.