Understanding Healthy Workplace Environments for Public Health Nurses: Approach from "Contributions to Society"

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K17549
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Community health nursing
• Research Institution: Teikyo University (2019); Tokyo Health Care University (2018); Juntendo University (2017)
• Principal Investigator: Saito Naoko 帝京大学, 医療技術学部, 講師 (90621730)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 市町村保健師 / 健康職場

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to identify environmental factors that may be associated with the health of public health nurses and the productivity and performance of their organizations, based on the concept of a healthy workplace. A national survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted with a sample of 175 public health nurses.
Factor analysis yielded 8 factors:“mutually respectful relationships,” “personnel management that also considers public health nurse-specific activities,”“opportunities to look at the overall organization of local government,”“supervisors that strike a good balance between management and workplace-related responsibilities,”“consideration for one’s personal life,” and “career development support adjusted for individual circumstances”etc. These 8 factors were found to be rerated to “Mental health,” “healthcare-related activity quality,” “healthcare-related activity outcomes,” and “intention to stay in one’s job”.

Free Research Field

公衆衛生看護学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来の保健師のメンタルヘルス研究は、保健師個人に着目したもので、組織の生産性・業績の部分が抜けており、健康につながる要因が解明されても組織としては改善につながらなかった。
本研究により「健康」と「生産性・業績」が両立する健康職場につながる要素が明らかとなったことで、保健師自身の健康のみならず、組織も限られた人員で成果を出せ、財政面や人員確保面での解決策にもなるという利点があるため、改善につながることが期待される。これにより、保健師が効果的に保健活動を行うことができ、地域住民の健康やQOLにも結び付くと考えられる。