Changes in the number of public health nurses employed in local governments in Japan during the Covid-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study
Abstract
Objectives
This study aims to clarify the recruitment of public health nurses in local governments in Japan during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Study design
A cross-sectional study.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of 150 local governments that have public health centers in Japan was conducted. The survey period was November to December 2021. The survey items were the number of full-time and part-time public health nurses (PHNs), the number of PHNs who resigned or retired from the job, and the number of PHN recruitment examinations for each year from 2017 to 2021. For all variables, the mean, standard deviation, maximum, and minimum values for each type of municipality and year were calculated, and a one-way analysis of variance was performed.
Results
The recovery rate was 54.0% (81/150). Although a statistically significant difference was not recorded in the change in employment status of PHNs from 2019 to 2020, during the year that COVID-19 infection began in Japan, the number of full-time PHNs increased by only 2.6 at the maximum, while the number of part-time PHNs was 5.2±8.3 to 10.8±9.6 (p = 0.61) for prefectures, from 13.6±13.1 to 21.5±34.8 (p = 0.23) for city, and from 16.8±26.8 to 52.3±132.5 (p = 0.70) for ward.
Conclusions
This study reveals that support for the increased workload due to COVID-19 is heavily dependent on part-time PHNs. Drastic change to the ideal way of the original countermeasure to Covid-19 in Japan or the supply of stronger human support to the public health center might be desired.
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