Is there value in routinely obtaining a report from the general practitioner as part of pre-entry health screening of students for nursing studies?
BACKGROUND
Reports from general practitioners (GPs) are requested on applicants for nurse training, but there is no published evidence of the merit of this practice.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the benefit of GP report in health assessments of student nurse applicants.


METHODS
An audit was made of information obtained by health declaration form (HDF), nurse's assessment, GP report and, when performed, a physician's assessment for each applicant. Agreement between the health questionnaire and GP report was analysed by kappa statistics.


RESULTS
Of 254 applicants, 246 (97%) were declared 'fit to work', four (1.6%) were deemed 'fit with restrictions' and four (1.6%) were considered 'unfit to work'. The most common problems declared were psychiatric and skin problems. The agreement between health declaration and the information provided by GPs was classed as almost perfect for diabetes and only fair to moderate for all other measures. The reports provided additional information on problems not declared by applicants, but all of these were passive problems. The four unfit candidates all had psychiatric illness, but in all cases the occupational health assessment was sufficient to make this decision or to request further information. In the 'fit with restrictions' category, three of the four GP reports (75%) helped in correctly assigning the applicants to this category. In one of these eight cases a passive problem had not been declared.


CONCLUSIONS
The additional information in GP reports does not affect the conclusion regarding fitness for training in most cases and does not provide sufficient information to merit it being sought routinely.
Waclawski
E R
ER
NHS Argyll and Clyde Occupational Health Service, Dykebar Hospital, Paisley PA2 7DE, UK. eugene.waclawski@renver-pct.scot.nhs.uk
Paterson
A
A
Loftus
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004506:Education, Nursing; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007586:Job Application; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008875:Middle Aged; D013338:Students, Nursing; D006113:United Kingdom