Abstract
Purpose: This study attempted to estimate the need for home visiting nurse at public health centers. Methods: A model was generated to estimate a community's home visiting health service needs in 16 regions and a workload analysis was adopted to estimate the number of required Nurses. Data were collected from 16 public health centers using the South Korean government's open-information systems. Subjects were divided into three groups: vulnerable social group, bottom 10% income group, and bottom 20% income group. Results: The analysis revealed that 2,158 and 6,667 nurses were needed to provide home visiting health service for the bottom 10% and 20% income groups, respectively. It was estimated that for the vulnerable social group, 10,336 nurses were needed to provide home visiting health service, implying that the need-based demand for nurses is well over 5 times the number currently employed. Conclusion: The results indicate that the number of currently employed nurses is insufficient for the health management of vulnerable social groups. The government should consider active employment policies to encourage nurses to apply for home visiting health service.
