Open AccessVictorian maternal child health nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs towards national registration changes
Author(s) -
Rayleen Breach,
Linda Jones
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of hospital administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1927-7008
pISSN - 1927-6990
DOI - 10.5430/jha.v6n3p1
Subject(s) - interview , workforce , government (linguistics) , nursing , service (business) , exploratory research , medicine , qualitative research , medical education , psychology , political science , sociology , business , social science , philosophy , linguistics , marketing , anthropology , law
In 2010 National Registration for nurses was established which was likely to impact the role of the maternal and child health nurses (MCH) in Victoria. This study explored the perceived impact of the national changes to the MCH nurse workforce in Victoria following the implementation of national registration and a proposed national service framework. A qualitative exploratory descriptive design was employed with the purpose of exploring the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of Key Stakeholders (KSH) to the recent changes and perceived impact to Victorian MCH nurses. The significance of this study lies with understanding the gaps in current knowledge of KSH to the national changes. Outlined briefly in this paper will be main findings from the KSH. This involved interviewing 12 KSH from management positions, including Local Government Coordinators, Policy Advisors to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, the Municipal Association of Victoria, along with academics from Universities that provide postgraduate Child and Family Health education programs for the MCH nurse qualification. Date was transcribed verbatim and content analysis used. Categories were developed by identifying recurrent patterns from the data, labels were then chosen which reflected the participant’s words: “common standard”; “losing our identity”; “universal service”; “we do it well” and “imposed from above”. Overall the KSH were concerned how the disparity in education and qualifications would be resolved and the effect this would have on the service. Findings from this study highlight the importance of comprehensively investigating services offered by all jurisdictions and using collaboration, communication and leadership to effectively introduce change.