Nursing and the future of primary care

doi:10.1136/bmj.320.7241.1020

BMJ 2000;320:1020-1021 ( 15 April )

Editorials

Nursing and the future of primary care

Handmaidens or agents for managed care?

General practice pp 1038 , 1043 , 1048 , 1053

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Set against what we already know about nurses working alongside general practitioners,¹ the four trials of nursing in primarycare in this week's BMJ give us a better idea of what the futureof primary care might look like.^2-5 Most people seeking a rapidresponse to their symptoms or concerns accept practice nursesor nurse practitioners in front line roles, although a substantialminority continue to prefer a doctor's opinion after experiencingnursing attention.²

On average, nurses have longer consultations, arrange more investigations and follow up, provide more information, and givemore satisfaction than general practitioners. Primary care nursesare not cheaper than general practitioners,³ but they are assafe in managing self limitingillnesses.

Nurses undertaking triage assessments by telephone with computer decision support may reduce the number of visits to generalpractitioners, hospital use, and costs.⁵ The trials do nottell us anything about the medicalisation of discomfort . . . [Full text of this article]

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