Nurse Practitioner-led care in long-term aged care facilities in New Zealand: An exploratory study of registered nurses’ and general practitioners’ perspectives

There are many issues facing long-term aged care facilities in New Zealand, which will have future implications: the increasing complexity and dependency of residents; the aging population; restraints placed on the workforce such as funding, availability of registered nurses and general practitioners, and skill mix of staff; and legislated/policy requirements, are resulting in increased intensification of their workload and placing further pressure on an already overburdened workforce. It is known that the registered nurses and general practitioners are struggling to meet needs of the residents, resulting in moral distress. The purpose of this research was to explore if the nurse practitioner role in long-term aged care facilities in New Zealand would be supported as a model of care by registered nurses and general practitioners. A descriptive design was used to survey registered nurses and general practitioners, who were also invited to participate in phone interviews. The majority of questions in each survey remained the same for both groups; however, some questions were altered to accommodate the difference in roles. The survey was made available electronically via Survey Monkey™. Although both cohorts were favourable to the nurse practitioner role and saw the nurse practitioner as reducing the general practitioners’ workload, assessing and treating residents in a timelier manner, and supporting registered nurses in various aspects, long-standing concerns around the nurse practitioner role remain. Issues regarding the availability and funding of the nurse practitioner continue, particularly in an area where funding is limited. The majority of registered nurses and general practitioners were of the opinion that the services of a nurse practitioner would enhance delivery of health care in long-term aged care facilities, that nurse practitioners could improve access of care to residents in long-term aged care facilities, and that the registered nurses and general practitioners indicated their willingness to work in collaboration with a nurse practitioner. Both groups saw the nurse practitioner role as being a collaborative role with the general practitioner.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Nursing

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Eastern Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Klein, Vicki

• New Zealand
• registered nurses
• general practitioners
• aged care facilities
• nurse practitioners
• roles
• perspectives
• surveys

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6383

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10652/6383