Exploring Subjectivity Types of Community Health Visiting Nurses' Core Competencies: A Q-Methodological Approach

Purpose: This study aimed to identify subjective types of core competencies among community health visiting nurses.Methods: Q-methodology, which focuses on individual subjectivity, was applied. Thirty-two Q-statements were selected and ranked by 40 community health visiting nurses using a forced 9-point distribution from May 10 to June 30, 2025. The data were analyzed using the Personal Computer - Q methodology Analysis(PC-QUANL) program.Results: Four types were identified: the client-centered relational care type (Type I), collaborative decision-making and resource coordination type (Type II), clinical expertise and judgment type (Type III), and community resource linkage type (Type IV). The four types accounted for 52.9% of the total variance, with explanatory powers of 39.6% (Type I), 5.0% (Type II), 4.9% (Type III), and 3.4% (Type IV). Across the types, trust-based relationships emerged as a recurrent priority, whereas collaboration and resource coordination, clinical expertise and judgment, and community resource linkage differentiated the types.Conclusion: These findings clarify how community health visiting nurses subjectively prioritize core competencies and may be considered when designing competency education and ongoing competency-development strategies for these nurses.