| Description |
The present study was designed to increase the amount of data available on content of well child care interviews conducted by physicians and nurses in their expanded role. An effort was made to determine whether observed differences in content emphasis between nurses and physicians were statistically significant. Comments of public health nurses and intern and resident physicians were categorized in on of 15 categories within a conceptual framework consisting of four major domains-physical, learning/thought, social, and inner-and their intersects. Further description of the comments was provided by such miscellaneous categories as clarification-validation, counseling and guidance, rapport, reassurance, open-ended, antagonistic, and un-responded cues. The number of physicians and nurses above and below the median number of comments for the 36 interviews in each category was incorporated into a 2 x 2 chi-square design to determine significance of the differences. There were significant differences between nurses and physicians in the following categories. In the total response and counseling and guidance categories, nurses tended to be above the physicians below the median. Conversely, in the social, 2 (social and inner), 11 (physical, learning/thought, social, and inner), rapport and clarification-validation categories physicians tended to be above and nurses below the median. Both nurses and physicians tended to emphasize the physical domain and neglect the learning/though and inner domains, as well as several of their intersects. Maternal questions reflected minimal expectations for comprehensive well child care. Findings of this study indicate that educational programs intending to prepare health care personnel to provide well child care in the Salt Lake City area should stress the importance of comprehensive health care with particular emphasis on the inner and learning/thought domains. Future research in this area should include replication of this study using nurses with advance educational preparation which emphasized comprehensive well child care. The size of the sample should be increased to amplify the significance of the results. |
