Primary care: contributions of nursing personnel

The planning of primary care services should not represent singular attention on one provider group to the exclusion of others. Rather the principal focus should be on the development of a national system of interdependent health care roles with viable mechanisms for communication and collaboration among providers. However, when recommendations and plans for such systems are considered it is important to remember that though all the data are not in, those available, some of which have been cited, offer compelling support for the view that more appropriate and less costly primary care services can be provided by thoughtfully constructed inter-disciplinary systems in which nurse practitioners have key roles in the provision of primary care and in planning and evaluating services. It is further suggested that not only will nurses so prepared be able to offer a broader range of services themselves, but they will be in a stronger position to work effectively with nonprofessional personnel.