Skills acquired in research and public health in the specialty of family and community nursing in the Valencian Community.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the acquisition of skills in research and public health specialists in family and community nursing. Method Descriptive and analytical study on a population of specialist nurse members of with the Valencian Primary Nurse Society. Measured with anonymous self-administered questionnaire on activities implemented and turnaround time in the training period. The questionnaire was conducted and reviewed based on the training programme of the specialty. Results Sixteen of the 41 specialists responded. The four year groups of nurses who had finished their training were represented as well as seven national teaching units. The results show high heterogeneity in the activities developed in the training. The average rotation in public health is 7.07 weeks, with range of 0–16 weeks. The mean number of educational sessions is 2.69 in the two years. The average number of research projects is 1.19. Conclusion The result shows a specialisation process with training gaps in the skills of research and public health that could be remedied. Some practitioners claim that they finish their specialisation without undertaking research activities or completing the minimum proposed shifts. There is no process of improvement in the four year groups studied.