Abstract
Purpose : To clarify details of cooperative behaviors of public health nurses toward relevant institutions and professions when providing health services to individual patients. Methods : Subjects were 8 public health nurses who had experienced cooperation with some relevant institutions and professions when providing health services to individual patients. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain the overview, details and purposes about the contents of cooperation of health services that had been provided in the past. The data obtained were analyzed using a qualitative and inductive approach. Results : As cooperative behaviors of public health nurses toward relevant institutions and professions when providing health services to individual patients, the following 6 categories were extracted: ≪assessments of cooperative institutionso≫, ≪aggressive involvementso≫, ≪a bridge person≫, ≪agreement on support policy≫, ≪fulfilling roles as a specialist≫, and ≪rulemaking of cooperation≫. Discussion : The public health nurses played the role of coordinator for relevant institutions and professions, with the aim of improving the quality of health services for individual patients. The findings suggest that public health nurses understood the whole context of relevant institutions and professions who support patients, and worked as coordinators to facilitate the provision of health services for patients, while hold the perspective of patient-centered health services.
