Nurse vs General Practitioner Care for Patients Requesting Same Day Consultations in Primary Care

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Acute Disease; Nursing Care; Ambulatory Care; Family Practice

• Registration Number: NCT00461201
• Lead Sponsor: Catalan Institute of Health

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of nursing care in relation to usual medical care in adult patients who demand to be visited the same day in Primary Care Teams in Catalonia, as it is suggested in other countries.

Detailed Description

The primary care demand is rapidly growing and the family physicians feel overflowed by the demand and their capacity to solve things is limited by lack of time. Many organizational interventions have been planned to solve this problem. One of these is to imply the nurse professional to solve and control health problems that traditionally were the doctor's job. So, to demonstrate the nursing care is as effective as the medical care, we will compare, among both collectives, the 'quality' of care received by patients who ask an appointment for the same day.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2007-04
• Study First Submitted: 2007-04-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2007-04-16
• Last Update Submitted: 2007-04-16
• Study First Posted: 2007-04-17
• Last Update Posted: 2007-04-17
• Study Start: 2009-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 1640

Inclusion Criteria

• patients requesting same day consultations in primary care
• assigned to the practice

Exclusion Criteria

• do not want to participate
• difficulties to follow-up
• serious illness that makes the intervention impossible
• home visits

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Description of the capacity of resolution of the nurse:
To determine if there are differences in the proportion of patients that make a second appointment for the same reason in the next 2 weeks, comparing the two groups.
To determine if there are differences in the resolution of symptoms in 2 weeks after the visit comparing the two groups.
To determine if there are differences in the proportion of admission to hospital or to emergency room the next 2 weeks comparing the two groups.
To determine if there are differences in the satisfaction and resolution of the worries about the users state of health in 2 weeks after the visit comparing the two groups.
To determine if there are differences comparing the two groups in the perceived status of health, perception of the information, received attention, resource utilization and future intention to consult again with the same professional.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Description of the clinical demands of the users and their demographic characteristics.
To identify if there is a type of user in which the effectiveness of the intervention is higher.
To determine the proportion of users visited by the nurse not having to be visited by the doctor afterwards for that reason.