Abstract
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the image of the public health nurse as seen by the medically indigent prenatal patient who has had a public health nursing visit in the home. With this knowledge, she could plan a more effective approach, provide better services, and be better prepared to meet the needs of the prenatal patient. This study was aimed to explore the patients' concepts of the public health nurse's personal characteristics, her functions, and comparison of her image with other helping professions and to identify influencing factors affecting image formation. The exploratory approach was used and interviews were conducted with the aid of an interview guide on one-hundred prenatal patients in one county hospital prenatal clinic. The sample was chosen from available charts by the simple random method. The public health nurse was seen as a "helping" person with good personal qualities. Her functions were rated highest in the areas of baby and child care, care of the ill, and family planning. The patients were usually satisfied with the services received. The preferred approach by the patients was to be given ideas and decide for themselves. The patients preferred a public health nurse between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-nine and stated no racial preference. Most respondents either did not care or preferred that the PHN [Public Health Nurse] not wear a uniform. The public health nurse was viewed as having less education than the hospital registered nurse. She compared favorably with the teacher and social worker. Further study could profitably be conducted on the following questions: (1) How does the desire for family planning correlate with cultural background? (2) Would an authoritative approach with patients increase or decrease the patients' respect and prestige for the public health nurse? (3) Why is the educational level of the hospital registered nurse rated higher than the PHN's? (4) How does the type of dress affect the patient's image of the public health nurse when a uniform is not worn? (5) Do patients consistently prefer a PHN of their own age to visit them? and (6) How would the findings of this study compare with similar studies using patients who have received nursing care in the home?
LLU Discipline
Nursing
Department
Nursing
School
Graduate School
First Advisor
Ruth Margaret White
Second Advisor
Paul William Dysinger
Third Advisor
James Heber Stirling
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Degree Level
M.S.
Year Degree Awarded
1966
Date (Title Page)
5-1966
Language
English
Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings
Nurse-Patient Relations; Nurse-Patient Relations--Case Reports.
Type
Thesis
Page Count
vi; 57
Digital Format
Digital Publisher
Loma Linda University Libraries
Copyright
Author
Usage Rights
This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.
Recommended Citation
Gray, Arlene Parrish and Lambeth, Corlene Waddell, "The Image of the Public Health Nurse as Seen by the Medically Indigent Prenatal Patient" (1966). Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects. 1100.
https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/1100
Collection
Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Collection Website
http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/
Repository
Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives