Teamwork – general practitioners and practice nurses working together in New Zealand

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Teamwork in primary health care has been encouraged in New Zealand and in the international literature. It may improve work satisfaction for staff, and satisfaction and outcomes for patients. Teamwork may be classified as being multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary and is likely to be influenced by the nature of the work and the organisational context. AIM: To describe and analyse teamwork between general practitioners and practice nurses in New Zealand. METHODS: Data were drawn from a survey of general practices and from interviews with primary health care staff and management. RESULTS: Doctors and nurses in general practice in New Zealand see themselves as a team. Evidence suggests that the nature of the work and the business context most often leads to a multidisciplinary style of teamwork. Some providers have adopted a more intense teamwork approach, often when serving more disadvantaged populations or in caring for those with chronic illnesses. DISCUSSION: Concepts of teamwork differ. This article provides a classification of teams and suggests that most general practice teams are multidisciplinary. It is hoped that this will help personnel to communicate their expectations of a team and encourage progressive team development where it would be of value. KEYWORDS: Teamwork; primary care; practice nurses; general practitioners

Associations between degrees of task delegation and job satisfaction of general practitioners and their staff: a cross-sectional study

“…These results are also consistent with findings from previous research [13–17]. However, in these studies, the study sample was modest making it difficult to generalise the findings.…”

“…Few qualitative studies and one study using a quantitative study design have investigated whether practice nurses working more independently may free up GP time and improve GPs’ and their staff’s job satisfaction [13–17]. These studies indicate that task delegation and job satisfaction are important aspects of the organisation of general practice.…”

Relations between task delegation and job satisfaction in general practice: a systematic literature review

“…The remaining five articles were read thoroughly to appraise them according to the quality criteria. Only one of them did not meet the quality criteria due to a very low response rate, hence 27% of practices had answered the questionnaire ( N  = 276), 26% of GPs ( N  = 277), and 38% of PNs ( N  = 384) [28]. Four studies were included in the review, three of them originated from UK, and one was from Australia (Fig.…”

Views and experiences of nurse practitioners and medical practitioners with collaborative practice in primary health care – an integrative review

“…This reveals a paternalistic attitude of MPs instead of recognising the capabilities of NPs in terms of their professional scope of practice. Finlayson and Raymont [33] raise the point that NP employment through MPs will influence their collaborative relationship because the employer-employee relationship is hierarchical by definition.…”

“…The existing reviews focus on collaboration in multidisciplinary teams, in hospital settings and collaboration between general nurses and MPs. Collaboration between NPs and MPs in primary health care may differ to other settings and roles, because NPs bring increased autonomy to the clinical setting that may challenge the traditionally MP dominated domain of primary health care, where nurses have long been working to support the MP and perform delegated tasks [24,33]. …”