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Public health nursing: barriers and opportunities
Author(s) -
Plews Caroline,
Billingham Kate,
Rowe Ann
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
health and social care in the community
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.984
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1365-2524
pISSN - 0966-0410
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2524.2000.00231.x
Subject(s) - nursing , public health , public health nursing , focus group , nursing management , medicine , occupational health nursing , nursing research , qualitative research , psychology , health promotion , sociology , social science , anthropology
This paper reports the findings of a descriptive study that examined the understanding and practice of public health nursing in one English NHS Region. Using questionnaires and focus groups, data were collected from nurses working in Health Authorities, senior Trust management, operational management and nursing practice across hospital and community services. The data were analysed using qualitative methods. The paper reports one aspect of the study, namely the views of the lead nurses in the Trusts and the Health Authorities regarding public health and nursing. The findings suggest that there are varying interpretations of public health nursing, lack of collaboration between and within organizations and disciplines and limitations in the knowledge and skills possessed by practitioners. It is argued that these issues all present barriers to the development of public health nursing and need to be considered as a matter of urgency if organizations and clinicians are to make the most of the current opportunities.