PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Marriott, R. G.
TI  - Open access to the practice nurse
DP  - 1981 Apr 01
TA  - The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
PG  - 235--238
VI  - 31
IP  - 225
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/31/225/235.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/31/225/235.full
SO  - J R Coll Gen Pract1981 Apr 01; 31
AB  - The work of practice nurses to whom patients are allowed `open access' was analyzed. The attendance rate for the population registered with the doctors was 964 per 1,000 patients per year. It was found that in nearly half of the attendances the nurse was the person of primary contact for the health care team and that she dealt with three quarters of these cases without referral to a doctor. Further research is required into the management of these patients by the nurse. Although it is the opinion of the practice doctors that the nurses' care was adequate, open access presents them with such a wide range of problems that their work has moved ahead of the legal restrictions placed on general practitioners concerning the delegation of work.