Building community and public health nursing capacity: A synthesis report of the national community health nursing study
Recent widespread changes to the health care system, and growing evidence related to the social determinants of health, prompted a consortium of Canadian university researchers and decision makers to investigate the following questions: what does the Canadian community health workforce look like? and What makes for effective community health nursing?
The result is a mixed methods study that includes an analysis of Canadian Institute for Health Information databases (1996-2007), a pan-Canadian survey of over 13,000 community health nurses, and 23 focus groups with public health policy-makers and front-line nurses.
The study found that in 2007, 16% of the nursing workforce, or over 53,000 nurses, worked in the community. This number had not changed, as a percentage of all nurses, for the past 5 years. Community nurses were older and more educated than the nursing average, more than 50% worked full-time, and more than 95% were female.
The researchers also identified organizational attributes that support the effectiveness of public health nurses (the largest subset of community nurses). These attributes include “flexibility in funding, program design and job descriptions; clear organizational vision driven by shared values and community needs; [and] coordinated public health planning across jurisdictions.”
The nurses surveyed identified leadership attributes that support their ability to perform effectively: vision; empowering and motivational behaviours; and support for the time-consuming work of building relationships and teams with community organizations and their clients, and other professionals. They said that leaders who respect and understand public health had a positive effect on public health nurses’ abilities to work to full scope.
Community nurses emphasized that they need more access to continuing education, policies, evidence, and debriefing sessions to sustain their competencies, and their professional confidence.
Use this article to:
• Learn how to adjust community health programs, HR policies, and management processes so that they enhance community nurses’ ability to improve health outcomes in their communities
• Learn about the methodology of the National Community Health Nursing Study, the first of its kind in Canada
• Rekindle your sense of mission as a community or public health nurse, manager, or policy maker
Underwood, J. M., Mowat, D., Meagher-Stewart, D., Deber, R. B., Baumann, A. O., MacDonald, M. B., & ... Munroe, V. J. (2009). Building community and public health nursing capacity: A synthesis report of the National Community Health Nursing Study. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 100(5), I1-11.