title: Articulating nurse practitioner practice using King's theory of goal attainment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To further understand the interactions between nurse practitioners (NPs) and patients, King's nursing theory of goal attainment was applied as the conceptual framework to describe the interactions between NPs and patients in the primary care setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six dyads of NPs and their patients were video- and audio-taped over three consecutive clinic visits. For the purposes of this arm of the study, the audio-taped interactions were transcribed and then coded using King's concepts in her theory of goal attainment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  King's theory was applicable to describe NP practice. King's concepts and processes of nurse-patient interactions, such as disturbances, mutual goal setting, and transactions, were observed in NP-patient interactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Disturbances during clinical encounters were essential in the progression toward goal attainment. Elements, such as social exchange, symptom reporting, role explanation, and information around clinical processes facilitated relationship building. NPs as practitioners need to be reflective of their own practice, embrace disturbances in the clinical encounter, and attend to these as opportunities for mutual goal setting.
authors.affiliation: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Leon-Demare
authors.affiliation: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gregory
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Gayle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Halas
mesh_terms: D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses'
keywords: King‘s theory; Nurse practitioners; communication; nurse-patient interactions; patient