A randomized trial was conducted to determine if a public health nursing intervention consisting of telephone contacts or home visits affected the receipt of preventive health services by children eligible for the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program. Each nursing intervention was applied using a protocol, and outcome data for 1654 case subjects were obtained from state-paid provider claims. However, the trial revealed no statistically significant differences between the study groups, nor was ethnicity a significant factor. Methodological and study context issues were identified that may have affected the results, the generalization of which is limited by the strict selection of cases.
With the current economic trend toward limiting programs, public health nurses must define their services and examine the cost effectiveness of their actions or interventions to maintain fiscal support. Prevention-oriented field nursing service is difficult to measure in relation to outcome and cost due to its qualitative nature and location in bureaucratic systems.
The effect and cost of nursing follow-up services on school dental screening outcomes were investigated. Experimental and control groups were randomly assigned. A positive difference in dental visit rate occurred for all nurses, with the overall dentist visit-no visit, experimental-control odds ratio being 1.64 (95% CL = 1.15, 2.35). The service averaged 27.7 minutes and $8.92 per family contacted, suggesting that nursing follow-up increased dental care utilization after screening at low cost in this population.
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