In Oregon, it is believed that public health nurses make up the most significant portion of the governmental public health workforce at the local level. However, national and state workforce assessment data such as the: HRSA State Health Workforce Profiles, the Area Health Education Centers Program (AHEC) survey, and Oregon Board of Nursing data do not provide the specificity about the governmental public health nursing workforce needed to support this claim. Existing surveys use codes representing nursing speciality areas, which combine the public health nursing speciality with care settings such as community health and home health. The Center for Child and Family Health within the Oregon Health Division, in January 2001, surveyed public health nurses employed by the thirty-six local public health departments in order to identify the demographics, the education level, and the roles of public health nurses at the local level. The poster presentation will describe how the governmental public health nursing workforce was identified and defined, present the results, highlight the shortcomings in data quality, and make recommendations to others attempting similar projects.
Learning Objectives: 1)Recognize the need for an accurate enumeration of the public health nursing workforce 2)Identify five considerations needed prior to conducting an assessment of the public health nursing workforce 3)Understand recommendations about designing a public health nursing workforce assessment
Keywords: Workforce, Public Health Nursing
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Oregon Health Division and Oregon's local public health departments
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.