Paper
Thursday, July 22, 2004
This presentation is part of : Public Health/Community Health Nursing
Designing a Client Dependency System for Irish Public Health Nurses (PHN)
Gobnait Byrne, RGN, RNT, BNS, MPH, Anne-Marie Brady, RGN, RNT, BSN, MSN, PGDip, Paul Horan, RNMH, BTEC, (Man), MA, PG, Dip, C, H, Colin Griffiths, RMHN, PH, Dip, Clin, H, Sci, Educ, RNT, Catriona Macgregor, RPN, RGN, RNT, MSC, PGDIP, Clin, H, Sci, and Cecily Begley, RGN, RM, RNT, MSc, Phd, FFNRCSI, Dip. School of Nursing & Midwifery Studies, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Learning Objective #1: Outline the development of a client dependency system for PHNs
Learning Objective #2: Gain an understanding of the PHN workload in Ireland
Objective: To describe the pilot phase of the development of a workload measurement tool for Irish PHNs. Design: The revised Easley Storfjell Patient Classification Instrument (Anderson & Rokowsky 2001) was adapted for the purpose of the study and named the Community Client Need Classification System (CCNCS). Quantitative methodology was used using a descriptive correlational design.

Population, Sample, Setting, Years: The population for the pilot study was PHNs working in an Urban Community Care Setting in Ireland. Convenience sampling was used and the pilot study was conducted with 8 PHNs over 3 days in March 2003. Variables Measured: · Clients Needs Level assessed using the (CCNCS)- rated from 1- Low Need to 5- High Need · PHN and RGN time spent with Clients · Non-Caseload activity by the PHNs- eg Health Promotion projects · PHNs satisfaction with the Classification System · Demographics of the PHNs

Methods: The PHNs assessed all clients they visited during the duration of the pilot study, using the CCNCS. Predictive validity was ascertained by measuring the relationship between Needs Level and PHN time. Reliability was also tested during the pilot. Findings: The CCNCS was positively evaluated by the PHNs and they suggested some insightful changes to the format of the tool. There was a positive relationship between Needs Level and PHN time. Conclusions and Implications:; The changes recommended by the PHNs for the main study included changes to the data collection instruments and reviewing the scoring system of the classification system.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
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