Primêre gesondheidsorg deur plaaslike owerheidsverpleegkundiges

M.Cur.With the announcement of the devolution of primary health care services to the local authority by the Cabinet in 1991, the role fulfilment of the community health nurse becomes more complex and greater demands are continuously made on her. The question, to what extent will the Implementation of primary health care (with the critical elements as framework) make greater demands on her role and function, led to this study. An exploratory, descriptive study, within a contextual framework was carried out. The purpose of the research was to analyse the task of the nursing staff working at local government, to determine which critical elements In primary health care are seen as part of the tasks of the community health nurse and to give guidelines with regard to primary health care and community health nursing. Content analyses done of job descriptions Indicated that some of the critical elements of primary health care are not expected to be performed by the nursing staff. According to the information gained through the questionnaires, nurses do more than is expected of them as Indicated In their job descriptions. " According to the conclusions resulting from this study, most of the critical elements of primary health care is being performed by nurses as part of their duty. The most Important recommendations Include the training of those nurses who feel that they need refresher courses with regard to the examination of patients and the making of diagnoses. Nurses need to know about the changes and what Is expected of them In future as a result of these changes