Research on the characteristics of community nursing knowledge flow based on social network analysis

Abstract

Objective To understand the characteristics of knowledge flow network in community nurses, in order to provide empirical basis for promoting the training efficiency of community nurses , and to optimize the training mode of community nurse .Methods A total of 387 nurses were randomly selected from Shanghai community health center .And the social network analysis was used to investigate the egocentric network characteristics and the overall network structure of knowledge exchange among community nurses based on the perspectives of egocentric network and overall social network , SPSS17.0 and UCINET 6.0 software were used for data analysis and processing .Results The individual network size of nurses was （2.68 ±1.61） points. The number of nurses who could be consulted was related to education , job title and research experience （r=-0.165, 0.189, 0.261, respectively; P 〈0.05 ）; The relationship between colleagues was the main knowledge exchange relations , and was the strongest at 3.576 6; the places for knowledge exchange mostly concentrated in our hospital and the intensity is higher , at 3.502 6.Attending training classes and lectures was the main channel for community nurses to get knowledge , and self-study was the secondary way of knowledge acquisition for community nurses.Conclusions Social network analysis is an effective method of studying community nurse knowledge networks . The consulting network of knowledge for community nurses is characterized with small scale.The ability of acquiring knowledge resources is limited , and the main channel for community nurses to get knowledge is government organizations which result in knowledge exchange between community nurses getting confined; knowledge transfer within the community is stable , but which is lack of heterogeneity. Key words: Community nurses; Nursing knowledge; Social network analysis; Network features