The study was done to improve the job training course for Community Health Practioners (CHPs) by evaluating the level of help that the training provided to the CHPs in carrying out their work and to analyze the management activities of the CHPs in order to develop a more effective CHP training program.
The methodologies used in the study were a questionnaire survey.
The survey results were analyzed using SPSS Windows.
The study results are as follows.
1. The total average level of help from the job training(Theory, Practice and Field Practice) for carrying out the CHP work was found to be 3.04±.53 (of a possible 4), which indicates a high level of help. The average for clinical practices was 3.16±.60, for theory, 3.11±.40 and for field practice, 2.84±.60.
2. For the theory content of the job training courses, the help level was low in the area of mother and child health management/family planning with an average of 2.65±.62 and in the area of health information system development with an average of 2.62±.83. The reason for these deficiencies were, in order of frequency, few opportunities to apply learning, training content that was inadequate, training methodologies which were incongruent with content, improper training items and insufficient class hours. For the practice, the clinical work in rehabilitation/orthopedics departments and in ENT/Opthalmology departments had averages of 2.96±.86 and 2.97±.80 respectively. This low level resulted from the lack of direct experience, lack of sincerity during the practice time, lack of practice guidance, insufficient time and lack of practice equipment, in that order. For the field practice, the delivery management averaged 2.06±.90 as the lowest help level. In this case 68% of respondents replied that there were no relevant reasons for this deficiency, 21% responded that there was a lack of direct experience, 7%, a lack of practice guidance and 4.8%, insufficient time.
3. There were significant differences for several demographic variables when comparing the help level of the clinical courses (Practice and Field Practice). A higher help level was reported by older nurses as compared to younger ones, experienced nurses as compared to scholarship nurses, and married over single. Also for nurses who had finished more other programs and were qualified or licensed in several areas the level was high. Although it was not statistically significant the level was higher if the work area was in a rural county, not a city, and if one had more recently completed the job training(P<.05).
4. Of the respondents 58.6% replies stated the period of job training for the CHP was adequate, but 51.7% reported that the period for theory courses was too short while an other 48.3% responded that it was sufficient. For practice locations, 50% responsed that it was good to practice in medical institutions(primary, secondary and tertiary) at the same time. While 48.3% agreed that doing theory and practice simultaneously was good, and 56.9% agreed that field practice should be done after completing theory and practice training.
Hence, the development of new field practice guidelines suitable for changing environments of health management are required in place of the existing ones which were considered low in help level to the practical work of the CHPs.
|