Problem Prioritization Methods of the Department of Community Health Nursing and Primary Medical Care Nursing, Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Nakhon Ratchasima

Abstract

Prioritizing problems is one of the most important steps of community diagnosis. The Department of Community Health Nursing and Primary Medical Care Nursing offers a course in community diagnosis for the fourth year nursing students having both theoretic and practical components to develop and improve the skills needed for working with a community. However, during their practicums, we have noticed that it is difficult for students to prioritize problems when they have similar scores. Consequently, several problems get categorized into one level. Moreover, during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic situation, the students have been unable to collect enough data from the communities to conduct community diagnosis. Therefore, the department had to adjust the plan for the practicums by assigning students to smaller communities and developing a method for prioritizing problems called The Problem Prioritization Methods of the Department of Community Health Nursing and Primary Medical Care Nursing, Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Nakhon Ratchasima (CHN-NR Method). The prominent feature of this method is that it emphasizes the participation of the community members in determining how to solve their own problems. The CHN-NR Method works well when applied to a smaller community, making it suitable for use by nursing students and nurse preceptors for the revised community diagnosis practicum. The objective of this article is to present the CHN-NR Method which evaluates four criteria, including: 1. the size of problem 2. the severity of the problem, 3. the feasibility of solving the problems of people in the community, and 4. the community’s concerns.