The use of Community/Public Health Nursing Competencies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives(1) Ascertain the use of the Quad Council Competencies for Community/Public Health Nursing (QCC-C/PHN) Competencies by community/public health nurses (C/PHNs) during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) Inform from a systems-level the need to sustain the C/PHN workforce; (3) Assess the C/PHN infrastructure for response capacity.DesignCross-sectional. Statewide email distribution lists were used for dissemination.SampleConvenience sample (n = 169) obtained using emailed Qualtrics link with the eligibility criteria of self-identification as a C/PHN who works in the state of Missouri.MeasurementsDemographic questions included employment sector, nursing education level, years of nursing, and C/PHN experience. Two Likert-type questions and one optional open-text question were created for the eight domains.ResultsOne hundred sixty-nine participants' data were analyzed. One hundred fifty-four were employed in a local public health agency. Total 63.2% held a bachelor's degree in nursing or higher. The average number of years of nurse experience was 20.84, and C/PHN experience was 9.84. The domain of Communication Skills scored highest and Cultural Competency was the lowest. Three themes emerged from the open-ended questions including vulnerabilities of the public health system.ConclusionUnderstanding the experiences of C/PHNs in Missouri related to the utilization of QCC-C/PHN competencies informs efforts to strengthen public health infrastructure and target resources to equip Missouri's C/PHNs.