Nurses’ Contributions in Rural Family Medicine Education: A Mixed-Method Approach

Ryuichi Ohta, Satoko Maejma and Chiaki Sano
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Ryuichi Ohta: Community Care, Unnan City Hospital, 699-1221 96-1 Iida, Daito-cho, Unnan 699-1221, Japan
Satoko Maejma: Department of Nursing, Unnan City Hospital, 699-1221 96-1 Iida, Daito-cho, Unnan 699-1221, Japan
Chiaki Sano: Department of Community Medicine Management, Faculty of Medicine, Shimane University, 89-1 Enya cho, Izumo 693-8501, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: Family medicine residents frequently collaborate with nurses regarding clinical decisions and treatments, which contributes to their education. In rural areas, these residents experience a wider scope of practice by collaborating with nurses. However, nurses’ contributions to rural family medicine education have not been clarified. This study measured the contributions of 88 rural community hospital nurses to family medicine education using a quantitative questionnaire and interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Nurses’ average clinical experience was 20.16 years. Nurses’ contributions to the roles of teacher and provider of emotional support were statistically lower among participants working in acute care wards than those working in chronic care wards ( p = 0.024 and 0.047, respectively). The qualitative analysis indicated that rural nurses’ contributions to family medicine education focused on professionalism, interprofessional collaboration, and respect for nurses’ working culture and competence. Additionally, nurses struggled to educate medical residents amid their busy routine; this education should be supported by other professionals. Rural family medicine education should incorporate clinical nurses as educators for professionalism and interprofessional collaboration and as facilitators of residents’ transition to new workplaces. Subsequently, other professionals should be more actively involved in improving education quality.

Keywords: family medicine education; family medicine physicians; nurses; residents; rural hospitals; patient care; collaboration; difficulties; professionalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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