Charting new roles for Australian general practice nurses: a multicentre qualitative study

Abstract

Nurses have six key operating roles in general practice. These operating roles extend beyond the clinical and administrative roles which are generally understood to be part of nurses’ work, and are: nurse as patient carer; nurse as quality controller; nurse as organiser; nurse as problem solver; nurse as educator; nurse as agent of connectivity. Nurses play a key role in creating resilient general practices, through their capacity to cycle rapidly through these six operating roles and their particular function around connectivity – where they act as a bridge between all staff within the general practice, and between the practice and patients in the community.