Growth and its Background of New Public Health Nurses Joining Public Health Centers under the COVID‑19 Epidemic：Interviews with Management Public Health Nurses

Abstract

Aim：To identify the growth and its background of new public health nurses who joined public health centers during the COVID‑19 epidemic from the perspective of managerial public health nurses.

Methods：Six managerial public health nurses at a prefectural‑type health center, where new public health nurses were hired in FY 2020 and 2021 and assigned in their first year in prefecture A, were included in the study. Semi‑structured personal interviews were conducted and analyzed qualitatively and descriptively using thematic analysis.

Results：Experience consisted of 14 core themes such as “dealing with the general public and doctors,” which were critical and aggressive；growth evaluation comprised 21 core themes such as “understanding the situation and taking initiative”；and external environment comprised 5 core themes such as “dysfunctional training system for new employees.”

Discussion：They acquired not only health crisis response skills but also basic interpersonal support skills. Behind the public health nurse’ s growth was the experience of being forced to take charge of a part of the organizational response to crisis situations despite unfamiliarity with situations. The growth was facilitated by the supportive atmosphere in the workplace where health workers in different positions, including younger ones, complemented each other’ s roles.