The child welfare system: through the eyes of public health nurses.
OBJECTIVE
This qualitative descriptive study investigates how public health nurses working within the child welfare system view the organization and the organization's effect on their case management practice.


METHODS
Semistructured interviews were conducted utilizing the Bolman-Deal Organizational Model. This model identifies four frames of an organization: symbolic, human resources, political, and structural.


METHODS
A purposive sample of nine nurses and one social worker was selected to participate in comprehensive interviews.


RESULTS
Data analysis identified two main themes. The first theme was the presence of organizational structural barriers to providing case management. The second theme was the lack of political influence by the nurses to change the structure of the organization; hence, their skills could be more completely utilized.


CONCLUSIONS
Public health nurses who work in child welfare will need to systematically analyze their role within the organization and understand how to work in "host settings." Nursing educators need to prepare public health nurses to work in non-health care settings by teaching organizational analysis.
Schneiderman
Janet U
JU
University of Southern California School of Social Work, Los Angeles 90089-0411, USA. juschnei@usc.edu
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000592:standards; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D015141:Los Angeles; D016294:Models, Nursing; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011057:Politics; D011209:Power, Psychological; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011637:Public Health Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013597:Systems Analysis