title: Nurse practitioners in general practice: an expanding role.
abstract: At a time when the government is proposing to allow nurses to become equal partners with GPs and a consultative report commissioned by the NHSE found that nurse practitioners provide cheaper and better services for patients (NHSE 1996), this article describes the role of a nurse practitioner working in a GP fundholding practice in the UK. The author considers issues of autonomy and accountability surrounding the development of the role. Its relationship to the development of nursing and caring is examined in the light of some doctors' and nurses' scepticism and ambivalence. The benefits to patients are presented to highlight the value of a properly structured nurse practitioner role integrated into primary care provision.
authors.affiliation: Grange Medical Centre, Hemsworth, West Yorkshire.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kaufman
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017009:Professional Autonomy