Abstract
Purpose: The starting times of community health nursing courses differ from college to college. This study was aimed to analyze how this difference affects students' levels of understanding community health nursing and interest in it, as well as the formation of their nursing philosophy. Methods: The starting times of community health nursing courses were categorized into 5 patterns. For each pattern, 28 colleges were selected, and a questionnaire was sent to the senior students by mail. Relating to community health nursing, the questionnaire contained 7 survey items: (1) image, (2) interest, (3) level of understanding, (4) level of difficulty, (5) positioning, (6) period of the course, and (7) nursing philosophy. The answers were statistically analyzed for each of 3 student groups formed for each pattern based on the college year-specific starting time. Results: The results showed no significant difference by the course starting time in students' attitudes toward community health nursing. Their images of community health nursing included "extensive," "warm," and "ambiguous," and many students found the level "a little difficult." Their interest was greater in the area of home nursing. Comparison between the 3 groups revealed that the group of students starting the course from the third year significantly differed from the other groups in the items of image, level of understanding, level of difficulty, and nursing philosophy. Conclusion: The difference in course starting times was relatively strongly reflected in the answers from students starting the course from the third year. Overall, however, each student presented a similar tendency.
