Abstract
The purpose of this research is to describe the first-year experiences of novice public health nurses, focusing on their interactions with local mothers in the maternal and child health program. The Participants were nine public health nurses having 1 year of experience at their job. Semi-structured interviews to gather data on novice public health nurses' experience were conducted. The first-year experiences of the novice public health nurses were classified into the following nine categories. As novice public health nurses started working in the maternal and child health program, they experienced [confronting the scale of their responsibilities combined with their inexperience]. Simultaneously, in their interactions with the mothers during medical examinations, they experienced [feeling frustrated with their inability to give appropriate advice]. They then began [identifying the knowledge and techniques they need to acquire through their conversations with the mothers], [devoting themselves to supporting the thoughts of the mothers], and [striving to make up for their lack of experience as an aid provider]. By repeatedly making effort and taking action they became capable of [flexibly responding to situations by making decisions based on the characteristics of the mother or their group]. Moreover, some experienced [acquiring a broader general perspective through the maternal and child health program]. After their first year, the novice public health nurses felt that they were [being able to interact with the mothers in line with the support they needed] and were [feeling confident that they will be able to continue interacting with the local residents].
