Abstract
Objectives The present study attempts to clarify the level of professional confidence of public health nurses and to identify the factors that may influence this confidence.
Methods An anonymous, self-administered, voluntary, paper-based questionnaire was distributed to 328 public health nurses working full-time within prefectures and municipalities. Professional categorization was conducted by referencing the relevant literature and a factor analysis was performed to investigate construct validity and reliability coefficients. The factors considered influential to participant's confidence were classified as “individual factors,” “workplace factors,” and “educational factors within the current education system.” The relationship between these factors and participants' professional confidence was then analyzed.
Results In total, we received 203 responses (61.9%) by mail. Of these, 117 (35.7%) were valid. The mean age of respondents was 44.1±9.49 years. On the basis of the number of years of experience, they were classified into newly-hired (6.8%), middle management position (59.9%), and administrative position (33.3%). Municipal public health nurses accounted for 77.8% of the respondents, while 22.2% were prefectural public health nurses. The professional components considered to influence respondents' confidence were found to consist of 19 items in three major areas: (1) management and clerical work according to the position held, (2) individual counseling services based on health guidance, and (3) scientific evidence-based evaluation. Professional confidence is built on following three factors “individual factors” (based on years of service), “workplace factors” (affiliations and official title), and “educational factors within the current education system” (registration with an academic society or participation in case study meetings and project meetings).
Conclusion The results suggest that to improve their professional confidence, public health nurses require not only an accumulation of experience but also improvements in the current education system, including training on objective evaluation of individual cases and business reviews.
