Health promotion by primary care nurses in Australian general practice

The pressures brought about by the increasing prevalence of poor health among some population groups as well as the rise in prevalence of chronic and complex conditions requires a nursing workforce skilled in health promotion. Primary care nurses have increasingly important roles in general practice settings but there is little exploration of the nature or extent of their health promotion work. This paper reports on a survey that investigated primary care nurses' perceptions of their current and potential roles in health promotion in general practice settings. The survey respondents were primary care nurses in general practice. 78 nurses responded to advertisements seeking participation, and 58 surveys were completed and returned. Data were analyzed through a framework of downstream-upstream health promotion actions. We found that the health promotion practices of primary care nurses were most commonly in the downstream realm of disease prevention and health education but nurses aspired to take on roles in more upstream work of partnerships and collaboration. Nurses' opportunities are undoubtedly constrained by both the general practice setting and their educational preparation. However, nurses were very positive about the opportunities that their role and position offered for expansion of their health promotion work.