A Comparative Study between American Public Health Nurse Core Competency and Community Health Nursing Practicum in a Province

PURPOSE: This study attempts to examine the extent to which competencies were identified in a Korean community nursing practice based on the 11 core competencies required by US health nurses. METHODS: This was a descriptive research study, and the subjects of this study were 11 students who were in a four-year nursing course. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire from October 19 to November 22, 2016. RESULTS: Core competencies in total were practiced in 60.0% to 98.5% of schools in Korea. Among these, competencies corresponding to the practice level of ‘high’ were identified as ‘communicating effectively with community nursing subjects and colleagues, and accepting various personal characteristics without criticism or prejudice’. On the other hand, competencies corresponding to the practice level of ‘low’ were identified as ‘to comply with social justice, public good, public health principles, and leadership in a community nursing practice’. CONCLUSION: This study can be used as a resource to categorize the competence of nursing students expected in the field of community nursing. Based on a careful review of core competencies with low practice, it is necessary to seek specific practical strategies to strengthen these competencies in the future.

Prescription Drug Use in Primary Health Care Posts and Its Improvement Scheme

PURPOSE: The prescription drug list for primary treatment by community health practitioners has been maintained for 30 years without any modification. Thus, this study will suggest an improvement scheme of prescription drug list for primary health care posts through an analysis of drug use in those posts. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was implemented with community health practitioners from April to June in 2012. A total of 1,249 copies were analyzed. As for the databases of drug use in the integrated information, a total of 154,229 diagnoses selected in the method of stratified cluster sampling from 39 primary health care posts'data were analyzed. We consulted some experts about the prescription medication list, and referred to the medication information on-line home page for up-to-date drug information. RESULTS: This study ultimately suggests 77 prescription drug items for primary health care posts by eliminating 35 items and replacing 1 item from the original list, and adding 4 items to it. CONCLUSION: This study will provide basic data for revising the prescription drug list in primary health care posts by periodically reflecting adverse effects in the existing drugs, demographic and environmental changes, and development of new drugs.