A nurse practitioner in general practice: working style and pattern of consultations

The work of a specially trained nurse practitioner, to whom patients had open access, was studied in an inner city general practice over a period of six months in 1983. A total of 858 patients of all ages and ethnic origins sought consultations for 979 problems. Morbidity from every diagnostic group was presented but the majority of the problems (60.4%) fell into the 'Supplementary' group: preventive medicine; health instruction and education; social, marital and family problems; administrative procedures. The consultation room setting and the long appointment times available (20 minutes) may partly account for this. Additional problems, mostly concerning health education, were raised in 46.0% of consultations. Most patients chose a consultation with the nurse practitioner appropriately and in more than one-third of all consultations the nurse managed the presenting problem without further referral for investigation, prescription or other medical advice. It is concluded that nurses have a much larger and more autonomous part to play in the care of patients than hitherto.