The work of nurses in Australian general practice: A national survey

Background: Following recent reforms to Australia's health system, nurses now comprise a significant and growing sector of the Australian primary care workforce, but there is little data describing the services they provide.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the patient consultations of nurses in Australian general practice, including patient characteristics, reasons for the consultation, treatments provided and other actions taken.

Design: The study was a national cross-sectional survey, with each participating nurse collecting information about 50 nurse-patient encounters.

Setting: General practice settings in all regions of Australia.

Participants: 108 nurses volunteered in response to advertisements and 104 returned completed study materials. Participants included Registered (Division 1) and Enrolled (Division 2) nurses working in a general practice setting.

Methods: Data were collected between May 2007 and May 2008 using a profile questionnaire and a series of encounter forms. Information was gathered on reasons for encounter, patient characteristics, and actions taken. Data were classified using the International Classification of Primary Care.

Results: The final data set included 5,253 nurse-patient encounters. 37.2% of patients (95% CI 33.3-41.2) were aged 65 and over, and 57.1% were female (95% CI 54.9-59.5). The majority of encounters (90.7%) were with existing patients of the practice (95% CI 89.1-92.7). The most common reasons for encounter were general and unspecified problems (35.4 per 100 encounters; 95% CI 31.8-39.1), followed by skin-related problems (20.0; 95% CI 17.3-22.8), and cardiovascular problems (11.0; 95% CI 8.7-13.3). Common management actions included medical examinations (20.7 per 100 encounters), immunisations (22.5), diagnostic tests (10.6), and dressings (15.8). Approximately 30% of encounters involved advice-giving.

Conclusions: The findings confirm the generalist nature of the General Practice Nurse role, with a wide range of patient types and clinical conditions. There is a clear influence of current funding and organisational arrangements on work patterns, with tasks that have specific funding (including immunisations and wound care) featuring prominently in nurses' work. Whilst nurses' rates for presenting conditions were similar to doctors at a general level, specific actions taken and problems managed differed. New policy reforms in Australia are supporting greater flexibility in the General Practice Nurse role, maximising efficient use of nurses' skills in the primary health care context.