Efficacy of primary care in a nursing center.

Nursing opportunities have expanded beyond the traditional bedside role. Nurses serve in a variety of roles such as administrators, teachers, or primary care givers in a variety of settings. The role of primary care giver is a more recent role; it involves relatively independent nursing practice with clients who have acute or chronic illnesses. Client groups may include the elderly in high rise buildings, mothers and children at schools, or homeless and low-income populations at homeless shelters. This care is often provided in a nursing center. Nursing centers are nurse-managed centers in which nurses are accountable and responsible for care of clients; they are the primary provider of care and the one most seen by clients. Case managers may be in a position to refer patients to nursing centers or to work directly with nurse practitioners in nursing centers. However, questions about the primary care provided in nursing centers must be addressed for healthcare providers, insurance companies, and patients to be confident in the efficacy of this delivery system. Is the primary care comprehensive? Is it of high quality? Is it cost effective? Is it satisfactory to clients? These and other questions about the primary care provided in nursing centers must be answered to effect political and other changes needed to fulfill the role of nursing centers envisioned by early leaders of the movement. This article addresses questions related to the efficacy of primary care provided in nursing centers by family nurse practitioners. After defining efficacy, the discussion focuses on the components identified and studied in one nursing center and includes information on opportunities for case managers to utilize nursing centers for referral and appropriate follow-up of their patients.