Abstract
PurposeMaintaining a sufficient and competent rural nursing workforce is an important goal of the Chinese health delivery system. However, few studies have investigated the health training status or conducted a needs assessment of rural Chinese nurses during this time of great transformations in health policy. This study was conducted to explore the current health training status of nurses working in rural Chinese township health centers (THCs) and to ascertain their perceived needs.MethodsA cross-sectional survey using a self-administered structured questionnaire was conducted among 240 THC nurses in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China from March 2014 to August 2014. The survey questionnaire was adapted from the Second Chinese Survey of Demographic Data and Training Demand for Health Professionals in THCs developed by the Ministry of Education.ResultsThe nurses in THCs were young, with a low educational level. Their perceived needs for health training included further clinical studies at city-level hospitals to improve their skills and theoretical studies at medical universities in emergency medicine and general practice. Overall, 71.9% of the nurses with a secondary technical school background expected to pursue junior college studies, and 68.5% of the nurses with a junior college education expected to pursue a bachelor’s degree. A decentralized program with theoretical studies at medical universities and practical studies at county hospitals was regarded as feasible by 66.9% of the respondents.ConclusionHealth-training programs for nurses in Chinese THCs must be improved in terms of coverage, delivery mode, and content. A decentralized degree-linked training program in which medical universities and city hospitals collaborate would be an appropriate mode of delivery.
Highlights
Since 1993, the Chinese Ministry of Health (MoH) has annually administered a national nursing licensing examination and has required nurses to obtain a nursing practice certificate
The Act specified that a minimum of 3 years of full-time study in a nursing program accredited by the Ministry of Education (MoE) or the MoH was required to take the nursing licensing examination [1]
This study aimed to investigate the current health training status of nurses in township health centers (THCs) and their perceived needs
Summary
Since 1993, the Chinese Ministry of Health (MoH) has annually administered a national nursing licensing examination and has required nurses to obtain a nursing practice certificate. The Act specified that a minimum of 3 years of full-time study (including 8 months of clinical placement) in a nursing program accredited by the Ministry of Education (MoE) or the MoH was required to take the nursing licensing examination [1]. Editor: Sun Huh, Hallym University, Korea Received: September 11, 2017; Accepted: October 4, 2017; Published online: October 4, 2017 This article is available from: http://jeehp.org bility to become a registered nurse, including secondary, junior college, and undergraduate programs. Within the 3-tier health service system in rural China, township health centers (THCs) link county hospitals at the third tier and village clinics at the first tier, and must recruit nurses from secondary or junior college nursing programs [2]
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