Function and practice of public health nursing in Japan: a trial to develop the Japanese Purpose-Focused Public Health Nursing Model.

Aim: To clarify the significance of public health nurses' practice, we introduced the activities of Japanese public health nurses and tried to develop a model based on the purpose of their work.

Background: Despite international efforts toward clarifying public health nurses' practice, earlier models based on the purpose of their activities were underdeveloped.

Method: Japanese terms describing public health nurses' activities were gathered from the literature, nine researchers analysed and brainstormed the activities to develop a model.