An exploration into practice nurses’ perceptions of diabetes care in the community

ntroduction The World Health Organisation identified general practice nurses as providing a large share of diabetes care in the primary health sector in the UK. Systematic literature searching suggests that little research has been conducted into practice nursing diabetes care, with the exception of MacKinnon et al. (2001). Aim To explore the perception by practice nursesÕ of their roles in primary sector diabetes health care: Methods: A qualitative, exploratory approach using grounded theory. Purposive sampling using saturation as the end point to recruitment. In-depth semistructured interviews with individual participants and focus group verification sessions, tape-recorded and transcribed. Data analysis using transcript coding and category formation. Results 15 practice nurses interviewed and 2 focus group sessions held. Six major categories were identified: diabetes clinics; the perceived role of practice nurses in primary sector diabetes health care; what informs their role; how effectiveness of their role is evaluated; barriers restricting their role; training in diabetes. Discussion Understanding has been gained in the clinical reality of the practice nurse role in caring for people with diabetes. A range of perceptions raises particular questions for resource allocation and education for practice nurses