Current State of Nurses' Assessment of the Necessity of Continued Support in Infant Health Check-ups

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to investigate the factors related to nurses' assessment of the necessity of continued support in 3-month and 3-year health check-ups. In the present cross-sectional survey, a self-administered questionnaire dealing with the importance of various assessment items (58 items for 3-month health check-up and 65 items for 3-year health check-up) was mailed to 239 full-time nurses working at all public welfare and health centers in two government-designated cities. An explanatory factor analysis (principal factor method, oblique rotation) was used to examine the factors related to assessment. As a result of the analysis, the following eight factors were identified for the 3-month health check-up:first factor, “Family background,” second factor, “Family support capability,” third factor, “Interpersonal relationships,” fourth factor, “Mother's physical condition,” fifth factor, “Behaviors toward the child,” sixth factor, “Child characteristic,” seventh factor, “Childrearing measures,” and eighth factor, “Child growth and development.” The following eight factors were identified for the 3-year health check-up:first factor, “Family background,” second factor, “Interpersonal relationships,” third factor, “Family support capability,” fourth factor, “Child's living environment,” fifth factor, “Child development,” sixth factor, “Childrearing measures,” seventh factor, “Behaviors toward the child,” and eighth factor, “Child growth.” The relationship of each factor to attributes was analyzed, and the results showed that, for the 3-month health check-up, the first factor “Family background” correlated to regionality and educational background, and the second factor “Family support capability” correlated to regionality. For the 3-year health check-up, the third factor “Family support capability” and the seventh factor “Behaviors toward the child” correlated to regionality, and the fifth factor “Child development” and the eighth factor “Child growth” correlated to the number of years of nursing experience.