Human resources of community nursing and nurses′ working experiences in Wuhou district of Chengdu city: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective To identify human resource development of community nursing and the change of nurses′ working experiences during the past 5 years in Wuhou district of Chengdu city, and provide references for the improvement of community nursing quality and the optimization of hunan resources allocation in communing nursing. Methods Longitudinal study was used, and questionnaires were delivered to 12 community health service centers and their nurses in 2010 and 2014. Nurses′ working experience, the composition of human resources and the condition of community nursing human resources were investigated. Results Compared with 2010, the total number of working staff in community health service centers in 2014 was significantly increased (the rate of increase was 31%), and especially the number of community nurses (the rate of increase was 61%), there were 2-3 nurses for every 10 thousand people. In 2010 and 2014, the numbers of nurses with different educational backgrounds, professional titles, previous roles and working time in community health centers were statistically significant difference (P<0.05). The scores of nurses′ recognition in working experience were (3.70±0.51) and (3.54±0.50) in 2010 and 2014 (P=0.001). Conclusions The number of community nurses in Wuhou district has increased obviously. The number of nurses for every 10 thousand resident basically meets the national requirement. However, professional skills of nurses are not improved. Their working experiences are worse, especially the knowledge and skills are not enough for their works. Therefore, how to improve professional quality of community nurses is the key for sustainable development of community health care in Wuhou district. Key words: Community health nursing; Staff development; Community nurses; Longitudinal studies; Working experiences