Nurse practitioner access to radiology and laboratory services

With the advent of the New Zealand nurse practitioner (NP) role in 2001, ordering, conducting and interpreting diagnostic and laboratory tests became part of the NP scope of practice. However, anecdotal literature suggests there are national inconsistencies, barriers and limitations for some nurse practitioners in accessing diagnostic services. This paper is a report on a quantitative descriptive survey completed in 2008 exploring NP access to radiology and laboratory services. A purposive sample of all New Zealand registered NPs (as at 1 July 2008) were invited to participate (n = 47). The response rate was 79% (n = 37). The findings demonstrated some positive trends particularly in accessing laboratory tests, but generally there are barriers, inconsistencies and limitations for NPs when ordering tests. The majority of respondents directly order laboratory tests (75%, n = 27) that are processed under their own name. Access to radiology services is variable. Only 44% (n = 15) of respondents order plain x-rays/ultrasounds and 9% (n = 3) order advanced radiology tests that are processed under their own name. The research highlighted the need for national consistency and improved NP access to radiology and laboratory services.