2018 Volume 67 Issue 4 Pages 413-421
Public health nurses are the driving force behind health administration activities. In the super-aging society Japan finds itself in however, the roles of these public health nurses are currently changing and expanding even further, in order to cover the various health-related needs of the people. As a result, the number of public health nurses in local municipalities are increasing, and a re-examination of the placement and role distribution of public health nurses is believed to be needed.
Also, in health administration activities, promoting the support of social capital utilization for self-help and mutual assistance in addition to furthering existing health practices is very important. Health administration activities must be implemented to create a sustainable health promotion plan appropriate to the regional characteristics, and ensure a secure health emergency management structure. Public health nurses must further support these activities, in accordance with the “Guidelines for Public Health Nurses' Activities.”
It is therefore extremely important for public health nurses to be trained not only to have specialized knowledge and skills but also have capable abilities in cooperation, coordination, and administrative management and evaluation, in order to handle the Abstract wide variety of health activities. However, the education curriculum for public health nurses has diversified in recent years, thus the amount of experience and wisdom one may have is not always uniform with one's years of experience as a public health nurse. Therefore, there is a need to assess and evaluate public health nurses' individual abilities using the career ladder system, and develop a systematic approach to training public health nurses. In order to establish a systematic human resource development approach, it is preferable to collaborate with the human resources department and educational institutes and create a cooperative structure body.
The importance in the roles of supervising public health nurses is also increasing, in order to carry out health activities effectively, as well as promote human resource development. The cross-organizational duties of supervising public health nurses also play a key role in organization during natural disasters, which have become increasingly prominent the past few years. Local municipalities must reassess their health activities thus far, and formulate a new plan with supervising public health nurses. It is anticipated that promoting the roles of these municipal public health nurses will lead to further reassurance and comfort for local residents.
