台灣公共衛生護理人員前瞻性專業能力省思

Reflections on the Prospective Professional Competency of Taiwan Public Health Nurses

隨著人口高齡化、慢性病的盛行、新冠肺炎COVID-19肆虐，引發全球醫療照護環境巨大變化，社區醫療和照護挑戰變得更加嚴峻，致使公共衛生護理的工作日漸複雜。基層醫療第一線的公共衛生護理人員必須有能力思考醫療環境現況、解讀統計數據、轉譯科學資料、鏈結社區資源、運用遠距醫療等多面向系統，此乃衝擊公共衛生護理人員的傳統例行工作和既有專業核心能力。本文依據台灣12位公共衛生護理領域產官學專家學者座談之資料，同時參採世界衛生組織（World Health Organization）對公共衛生護理能力界定，省思在社會變遷下公共衛生護理人員的專業能力發展，提出八個面向的前瞻性能力建議，以期因應未來健康環境改變及基層醫療照護的挑戰，定位台灣公共衛生護理人員之時代角色與任務。

Societal ageing, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and the COVID-19 pandemic have changed the global healthcare environment dramatically. These challenges have significantly burdened community medical and healthcare systems and complicated the work of public health nursing. As an important care provider on the frontlines of primary care, public health nurses (PHNs) must keep up with the current state of the medical environment and statistical data interpretation, scientific data translation, community resource sharing, and telehealth applications. These demands have greatly impacted the traditional routines and existing professional core competencies of PHNs. Discussions among 12 Taiwanese public healthcare experts and the definition of public health nursing capacity from World Health Organization were considered in this review. In addition to reflecting on social changes and the professional development of public health nursing, eight prospective recommendations were provided in this review to enhance the professional competence of PHNs and better prepare them for future changes in the health environment and primary healthcare. The suggestions provide a reference for updating the position statement of PHNs.