Comprehensive Analysis: Role of Nurses in Primary Health Care

This report comprehensively examines the multifaceted role of nurses in primary health care settings. It delves into the core principles of primary health care nursing, highlighting the distinctions between general practice and other healthcare environments. The report outlines key responsibilities, including patient monitoring, medication administration, and wound care. It emphasizes the importance of nurses in clinical performance, organizational management, and adherence to guidelines. Moreover, the report explores nurses' roles in patient education, advocacy, and community health initiatives, including health literacy and the promotion of evidence-based practices. The report also discusses nurses' involvement in policy development, resource management, and the use of technology in healthcare settings. Overall, the report underscores the essential contribution of nurses to the efficiency and quality of primary health care, emphasizing their impact on patient outcomes and the broader healthcare system.

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ROLE OF NURSES IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
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ROLE OF NURSES IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
Introduction
Primary healthcare describes the services that promote healthy practices, disease prevention,
counselling, education, prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of a health related disorders and
issues (“Primary Care,” 2016).Such organisations act as a link between primary care and
community services; they are responsible for planning and implementation of public care
programmes and initiatives. In a primary health care setting, nurses have an array of tasks to
be performed; keeping records, wound care, administering medicines, monitoring patients
etc. among other tasks (“What Nurses Do,” 2017). In the European legislation, the NHS is
plays a role in direct commissioning of primary care (“NHS Commissioning » Primary care
commissioning,” 2017). The role of a nurse in a primary health care includes mainly direct
and indirect supervision. Direct supervision includes the observation, monitoring and guiding
by being present at the site. Indirect supervision includes accessing a facility by data
management.
Nurses are expected to have the knowledge and aptitude to provide attention in a clinic
setting; key roles include planning, implementation, co-ordination, monitoring and
evaluation. A nurse should be adept to not only evaluating but also handling an immediate
issue while understanding the social and psychological state of the issue.Such a nurse can
have either a Bachelor or Diploma in Nursing course. A nurse’s role is categorized into the
two distinct areas of clinical and organizational management. Clinical performanceis the way
of an individual carrying out the role within the scope of the employment (Haag-Heitman, B.,
2011). This includes the understanding of relevant issues and performance assessment.
Organizational performance is the way of an individual contributing to the organization

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within their limits (Smith, M., 2008). This includes the personal skills such as ability to meet
deadlines, presentation skills, compliance with organisational policies and rules.
This essay deals with understanding the key role played by a nurse in a primary health care
setting.
Role of Nurses in a primary care setting
A nurse needs to understand the primary health care principles of nursing. He/she needs to
understand the difference in nursing care during general practise and other health care
settings. The individual needs to practise in a consistent manner in compliance with the
principles of primary care, recognize the impact of social factors on the health of the public
and uses this knowledge in the planning and implementation of health care. The nurse should
be aware of the existing national health policies and identify the social needs of the practise
community.
Another key role of a nurse is to provide care in compliance with the existing general
practise guidelines and legislation. The individual has to follow practise within individual
limits set by an organization. The Nurse should be responsible enough to supervise the
functioning of a setting and seek guidance when faced with difficult situation; should be
responsible to provide feedback about the set guidelines, standards etc. among other things.
The nurse should be actively involved in building and maintaining professional networks.
The nurse should maintain relations with other co-workers such as nurses. The nurse should
invariably be expected to maintain general practice memberships and act as a mentor in case
of an emergency. Another key component is appraisal of the peers/co-workers which will
help the development of personal and interdepartmental strength. Also, a nurse should plan
his/her further education in the field of development.

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A nurse should also advocate nursing in practice. A registered nurse should promote practice
in to other health professionals and clients. In order to achieve the same, collaborative work
can be undertaken at a local, state or national level; should generate evidence to support the
need and benefits of general practise.
An individual in a primary care setting should possess leadership qualities. The
responsibilities will include assisting in orientation programmes of newly enrolled people,
taking responsibility of undertaken work, considering ethical and social wellbeing of self and
clients. Leadership has to be shown while collaborating with other departments or for
providing help to a colleague. Strategic planning, identifying opportunities, finding resources
and mentoring within the scope of the clinic setting are other major components that are
covered under leadership qualities.
A registered nurse is expected to possess key knowledge and technical skills which are
required in the management of a safe primary setting. The person should be capable of
critically evaluating clinical guidelines and identifying opportunities that has a scope to open
study in a new field. Nurses should be adept with theoretical and clinical skills and use them
in their scope of practice.
The nurse should be able to understand the diversity of the practise community. A person of
such position should be able to show respect to clients irrespective of their caste/creed,
nationality, religion, gender, socio-economic status and mental capacity. They should be the
impetus to develop professional relations within the diverse group of people. Recognition of
individual needs of a community is another major task undertaken by a nurse; whereby the
client is provided with specialized care. They also help to educate members of the team about
special needs of a certain community.

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The nurses are expected to act as advocates for the clients. This can encourage an individual
to be active participants of their self and other’s wellbeing. The nurses are also in charge of
educating individuals about the best suited programs and medical facilities for a certain
medical history; while also helping, customers identify affordable health care pertaining to
their needs. They are expected to be advocates of client issues, by voicing client issues with
the management.
Another major role is educating the masses about evidence-based health literacy. Seminars
and counselling sessions help to provide health education to consumers. The consumers are
made to understand about self-management and resources pertaining to practice community.
The nurses are expected to possess good communicational skills to come across to the public.
To help the consumers with self-management, they are also referred to external agencies.
And for the welfare of individual clients, make tailor-made schemes and plans.
A nurse is expected to evaluate the quality and efficacy of the primary setting of which
he/she is a part of. The main steps in the evaluation include observation, monitoring,
documentation and reporting. These steps enable the efficient working of a primary health
care. Discussion and seminars are regularly carried out to ensure the participation of each
member working in a team setting; this allows the exchange of ideas and grievances. As a
part of the evaluation, the nurses are expected to undergo critical evaluation of themselves
and the organisation they work for.
A nurse is expected to be proficient with computer technologies and clinical software. A
working member of the team should understand the importance of accuracy when dealing
with clinical data. They should be adept to organise and classify confidential data using
relevant IT systems. They should also have working knowledge of support tools used in

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demographics and health studies. They are also responsible for conducting audits using
software.
Nurses also play a role in human resource and physical resource management.They are
expected to manage workload in a primary care setting while effectively delegating tasks to
each member. They play a role in effectively using the available resources and thus managing
a budget for services or an equipment.
Nurses are expected to network with external agencies and health professionals to facilitate
continuity of services. This kind of networking reduces the gap between consumers and
service providers (“National_Practice_Standards_for_Nurses_in_General_Practice.pdf,”
2017).
A nurse plays a role in national policy makingby participating in development,
implementation and monitoring relevant policies and procedures. These nurses are expected
to identify the issues which are prevalent with the existing policies and assist in developing
and reviewing new policies which can be better in practice. They are expected to anticipate
risks of undertaking certain policies and make necessary changes if required (“WHO regional
publications: Nursing In Europe,”).
Conclusion
The nature of healthcare is constantly evolving. For the smooth functioning of any health
system, a team of multidisciplinary professionals should be brought together (Wagner EH.,
2001). Confusion and ambiguity in job description is a key barrier in any collaborative setup
( Hammond, M., Conn, L.G., et al., 2010.) Nurses are an unavoidable entity in a high quality
primary care and act as a link to strengthen primary care services.

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References
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time has come . Canadian Family Physician, 56(10): P. e375-82.
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