Experiences of Public Health Nurses During a Tuberculosis Outbreak

Background: Although tuberculosis (TB) is no longer the major cause of death that it once was in the US, the threat of TB outbreaks continues to be a major concern for public health departments.  Public health nurses (PHNs) play a major role when outbreaks of TB occur.  However, description of the role of PHNs and their experiences in responding to TB outbreaks is largely absent from the extant literature.  Little is known about the meaning of what PHNs experience when involved in a community outbreak of TB. Methods: The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of PHNs when responding to a Tuberculosis outbreak.  Fifteen PHNs who responded to a recent community outbreak of TB participated in semi-structured interviews designed to elicit their experiences in this public health response. The specific aims were to describe 1) their roles during the outbreak, 2) the factors that facilitated their effectiveness, 3) the factors that hindered their effectiveness, and 4) how their experiences impacted their professional and personal lives. Results: This presentation will provide the primary qualitative findings from the study.  Conclusions: The findings from this study will be particularly informative to those managing and funding programs for disease control.  Based upon an understanding of these nurses’ experience, they will be able to better anticipate both the potential contributions and needs of PHNs during a TB or other disease outbreak within their own community.