Impact of academic nurse-managed centers on communities served.
OBJECTIVE
This paper presents findings from six community focus groups that addressed the impact of academic nurse-managed centers (ANMCs) on the overall community being served as well as the quality of care provided in the centers.


METHODS
Experts in focus group methodology from a public health institute conducted the six focus groups at ANMCs from four universities in the Midwest. Discussions were guided by nine questions presented to each group. All groups were tape-recorded and transcribed. A total of 37 participants were recruited from the ANMCs and included patients and families, advisory board members, and local community organizations.


CONCLUSIONS
Four themes were identified across the six focus groups: valuing patient-centered care, which included two subthemes-continuous specific provider and specific aspects of care; quality of care; increasing access to care/addressing the safety net; and evidence of outreach.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings from these focus groups verify that community members do "get it" in terms of the unique aspects of ANMCs. Participants were able to articulate the differences between nurse-managed care and other types of ambulatory primary care. The unique strengths of nurse practitioners were repeatedly articulated as well as the centers' outreach into the community.
Pohl
Joanne M
JM
School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0482, USA. jpohl@umich.edu
Barkauskas
Violet H
VH
Benkert
Ramona
R
Breer
Lynn
L
Bostrom
Andrea
A
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D019090:Case Management; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009734:Nursing Faculty Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires