Research On Roles And Functions Of Community Nurses

ObjectiveTo study the roles and functions of community nurses at present in Chongqing,and then determine them, so as to conduct Community Health Services(CHS) continuously and further, and satisfy the care needs of community residents.Methods1. Design questionnaire for the status of roles and functions:Develop the questionnaire based on literature study and policy research.2.The field investigation :By means of random sampling method,146community nurses from ten CHS centers that located in urban area were interviewed with the questionnaires.3.Delphi technique:23 experts who specialized in the field of nursing management, teaching and research,clinic health care were selected to participate in Delphi consultation. The roles and functions and their weights were determined after two rounds Delphi consultation.Results1.Clinic basic nursing( 76.15%) still was the main work of community nurses. The community nurses mainly undertook the roles of manager and organizer,educator,next came care provider,observer and researcher,collaborator and coordinator,but seldom undertook leadership role and advocate role.There were five most important functions :health education for prevention of chronic disease ( 89.23%),organizing physical examination for the elderly ( 86.15% ),basic nursing ( 83.08% ),hospital infection control ( 71.54% ),observing the drug reaction ( 66.92% ).2.The response rates of these two rounds experts consultations were 91.30%,100%. The authority coefficient of the experts was 0.876, the Kendall'W coefficient of total indexes was 0.301(P<0.001). The roles and functions comprised 5 first-class indicators and 46 second-class indicators.Conclusion1. The roles and functions of community nurses are changing.With the gradual development of disease prevention and health promotion,community care has become gradually perfect and can do "six in one" function better.2. The roles comprised health caregivers,health educators and consultants,managers and organizers,collaborators and coordinator,as well as observers and researchers. The results are in accord with the realistic demands and development of community nurses.