The nurse specialist as main care-provider for patients with type 2 diabetes in a primary care setting: effects on patient outcomes

Department of Health Care Studies, University of Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Netherlands. b.vrijhoef@zw.unimaas.nlA solution to safeguard high quality diabetes care may be to allocate care to the nurse specialist. By using a one group pretest-posttest design with additional comparisons, this study evaluated effects on patient outcomes of a shared care model with the diabetes nurse as main care-provider for patients with type 2 diabetes in a primary care setting. The shared care model resulted in an improved glycaemic control, additional consultations and other outcomes being equivalent to diabetes care before introduction, with the general practitioner as main care-provider. Assignment of care for patients with type 2 diabetes to nurse specialists seems to be justified