School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
J Public Health Manag Pract. 2010 Mar-Apr;16(2):E8-16. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0b013e3181bdebfe.
The United States is facing a severe shortage of well-trained public health workers, and public health nursing is the discipline with the greatest shortage. A local public health agency's (LPHA's) staffing and leadership characteristics are critical in determining its programs, performance, and capacity. A better understanding of the relationship between specific staffing and leadership characteristics and public health programs is needed to address this capacity challenge.
Data from the 2005 National Profile of Local Health Departments, were examined to identify associations between an LPHA's nursing workforce and the specific activities performed by LPHAs.
LPHAs with a nurse as senior executive had a greater breadth of immunization, maternal/child health, and prevention activities than their nonnurse-led counterpart LPHAs, particularly in rural areas. Nurse-led LPHAs were less likely, however, to have a broad level of environmental health and regulation activities or to have recently conducted community assessment and planning activities.
Both LPHA nurse leaders and nursing staff play an important role in the provision of LPHA services, and a shortage of LPHA nursing leaders and staff, particularly in rural areas, will likely have a major impact on certain LPHA programs unless steps are taken to address these challenges.
美国正面临着训练有素的公共卫生工作者严重短缺的问题，而公共卫生护理是最短缺的学科。地方公共卫生机构（LPHA）的人员配备和领导力特点对于确定其计划、绩效和能力至关重要。为了应对这一能力挑战，需要更好地了解特定人员配备和领导力特点与公共卫生计划之间的关系。
对 2005 年国家地方卫生部门概况的数据进行了检查，以确定 LPHA 的护理人员与 LPHAs 执行的具体活动之间的关联。
拥有护士担任高级主管的 LPHA 比没有护士领导的 LPHA 开展了更广泛的免疫、母婴健康和预防活动，特别是在农村地区。然而，护士领导的 LPHA 不太可能广泛开展环境卫生和监管活动，也不太可能最近开展社区评估和规划活动。
LPHA 的护士领导人和护理人员在提供 LPHA 服务方面都发挥着重要作用，除非采取措施应对这些挑战，否则 LPHA 护士领导人和工作人员的短缺，特别是在农村地区，很可能会对某些 LPHA 计划产生重大影响。
