Primary Health Care: Comparing Public Health Nursing Models in Ireland and Norway

Table 2

Public health nursing: key similarities and differences between Ireland and Norway.

	Education	Organisational model	Remit	Focus of care	Challenges
Norway	1-year level 9 university postgraduate programme; or; 2 year Master programme	Decentralised to; municipal level	Children,; young people, and families	Prevention and promotion; Egalitarian provision of; and access to services; Geographically based	Geographical conditions; Issues of invisibility due to professional neutrality; Funding; Organisational model; Implementation of the new coordination reform
Ireland	1-year level 9 university postgraduate programme	Employed by the health services executive and geographically based	All age groups (cradle to grave) regulated by the department of health policy	Preventative and curative; Generalist and geographically based; home visiting	Historical influences; economic; Organisational model; Reform is overdue