Prevalence and associations of general practice nurses' involvement in consultations of general practitioner registrars: a cross-sectional analysis

• Published in: Australian health review 2016-01, Vol.40 (1), p.92-99
• Main Authors: Turnock, Allison, Morgan, Simon, Henderson, Kim, Tapley, Amanda, van Driel, Mieke, Oldmeadow, Chris, Ball, Jean, Presser, Jenny, Davey, Andrew, Scott, John, Magin, Parker
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Australia; Behavior; Child; Child, Preschool; Chronic illnesses; Classification; Cohort analysis; Collaboration; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Demographics; Disease; Female; General Practice; Health administration; Humans; Independent variables; Infant; Male; Medical Staff, Hospital; Medicare; Middle Aged; Native peoples; Nurse's Role; Nurses; Nursing homes; Nursing Staff; Patient satisfaction; Physicians; Practice nursing; Prevalence; Primary care; Referral and Consultation - utilization; Studies; Variables; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0156-5788; 1449-8944
• DOI: 10.1071/AH15010

To establish prevalence and associations of general practice nurses' (GPNs) involvement in general practitioner (GP) registrars' consultations. A cross-sectional analysis from an ongoing cohort study of registrars' clinical consultations in five Australian states. Registrars recorded detailed data from 60 consecutive consultations per 6-month training term. Problems and diagnoses encountered, including chronic disease classification, were coded using the International Classification of Primary Care, second edition duplication system (ICPC-2plus) classification system. The outcome factor in our analysis was GPN involvement in management of individual problems and diagnoses. Independent variables were a range of patient, registrar, practice, consultation and educational factors. We analysed 108 759 consultations of 856 registrars including 169 307 problems or diagnoses. Of the problems/diagnoses, 5.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 5.0-5.2) involved a GPN. Follow-up with a GPN was organised for 1.5% (95% CI 1.4-1.5) of all problems/diagnoses. Significant associations of GPN involvement included patient age, male sex, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status, non-English-speaking background (NESB) and the patient being new to the practice. Larger practice size, the particular training organisation, and the problem/diagnosis being new and not a chronic disease were other associations. Associations with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status and NESB status suggest GPNs are addressing healthcare needs of these under-serviced groups. But GPNs may be underutilised in chronic disease care.