A primary health care curriculum in action: The lived experience of primary health care nurses in a school of nursing in the Philippines: A phenomenological study

Primary health care (PHC) nursing is widely practiced in the Philippines yet little is published about the nurses working in this field nor by these nurses. This paper describes a PHC nursing curriculum conducted in an island in the south of the Philippines and examines the experience of nurses working as faculty and simultaneously providing service to the local community. Data were collected from a convenience sample of faculty by interview and analysed using Huserrlian (descriptive) phenomenology and Colaizzi's method of data analysis. From 102 formulated meanings emerged four theme clusters: teaching PHC; external influences; the working reality and practicing PHC, and these are presented with exemplars from the interviews. The data gives a clear impression of the experience of implementing PHC and working with small communities and highlights the educational and clinical issues inherent in this unique model. The insights gained from the analysis of the interviews are contrasted with current literature and recommendations for future research are made.