[Human resource development and home-visit competency related to career development among newly employed public health nurses with prior work experience: A nationwide survey of FY2023-2024 entrants in Japan].

Abstract

Objective　Focusing on novice public health nurses with prior work experience, this study aimed to identify the characteristics of human resource development systems related to career development, and to examine the importance of achievement levels in home visits within such systems.Methods　A web-based survey was conducted targeting all public health nurses newly employed by prefectural and municipal governments across Japan in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. In this study, we analyzed data from individuals with prior work experience. The survey items included demographic characteristics, the Comprehensive Career Development Scale for public health nurses (career score), the human resource development system, and levels of achievement during home visits for basic cases (home-visit achievement). Using hierarchical multiple regression, the career score was set as the dependent variable. In Model 1, all independent variables except home-visit achievement were entered; in Model 2, home-visit achievement was added. The adjusted coefficient of determination (R²) and its change were calculated to examine the contribution of home-visit achievement.Results　A total of 1,679 questionnaires were returned, of which 1,572 were valid, and 734 respondents had prior work experience. In the hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the adjusted R² values were 0.095 for Model 1 and 0.114 for Model 2, indicating a significant increase of 0.02. In Model 2, variables significantly associated with the career score were workplace consultation (β＝0.19), experience in presenting at academic conferences (β＝0.08), reading journals/books purchased by the workplace (β＝0.14), self-purchased journals/books (β＝0.08), and home-visit achievement (β＝0.15).Conclusion　The adjusted R² of Model 2 was 0.114, indicating that the career development of novice public health nurses with prior work experience could not be explained sufficiently by the variables examined in this study alone. However, workplace consultation, presentation experience, journal and book reading, and home-visit achievements were significantly associated with career score, with the inclusion of home-visit achievements further improving the explanatory power of the model. These findings suggest that, even for novice public health nurses with prior work experience, human resource development that provides systematic instruction and ensures achievement levels during home visits, together with well-developed consultation systems and learning opportunities, is important for supporting career development during the initial employment period.