2023 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 69-76
Purpose: This study aims to identify the characteristics of questions used by public health nurses (PHN) to obtain information and make the decisions necessary for mother-child support through case discussions at a newly-appointed PHN training course, and to obtain ideas for PHN assessment skills.
Methods: Questions raised in the case discussions for mother-child support at a newly-appointed PHN training were analyzed. From the transcribed data, questions were extracted and categorized by newly-appointed PHN, preceptors, and managerial PHN.
Results: Twenty-five PHN participated in the study (11 newly-appointed, 7 preceptors, 7 managerial), and organized information into “questions to assess family childcare skills” related to ‘temporal assessments of child growth and development’, ‘balance of mind in the childcare’, ‘uncomfortableness in interactions of mothers with the children’, ‘parent personality and life history’, ‘parent views on childcare’, and ‘family relationships and support skills’. The participants encouraged mothers to use support through “questions to explore opportunities and directions for intervention” by ‘approaches suitable to the childcare skills of the family’, ‘clues for intervention’, and ‘identifying issues based on professional assessment skills’.
Discussion: The case discussions showed that questions by PHN assesses comprehensive family childcare skills by focusing on the mothers, and temporal developments in the support appropriate to child development. The participants assessed the support direction by determining the timing and methods of intervention and shared assessments of professionals. The findings suggest the effectiveness of the case discussions where new and senior PHN participated to promote assessment through multilayered questioning according to the experience as PHN.
