ABSTRACT
Tobacco use, lack of physical activity, poor diet, and alcohol use are the key preventable causes of death in the United States. This study tested the use of nurses as consultants to primary care practices to assist practice clinicians and staff in identifying and carrying out plans to help their adult patients improve these health behaviors. A pre-post chart audit was conducted, and 17 of 20 practices (85%, p = <.01) increased documentation of health behavior delivery a mean absolute increase of 5.5% after the intervention. Nurse consultation may be an effective strategy to increase health behavior delivery to patients in primary care.
Subject(s)
Health Behavior , Nurse-Patient Relations , Patient Education as Topic/methods , Primary Health Care , Humans , Life Style , United States , WorkforceABSTRACT
This study used nurses as practice change consultants to help primary care medical practices improve their delivery of health behavior services to patients. Nurse consultants worked with 20 practices from 2 healthcare systems. In each practice, the nurses helped clinicians and staff to develop a practice-specific protocol so that they could identify and intervene with the health behavior of their patients. As a result of the nurse consultant intervention, health behavior delivery was improved. This article describes the specific methods and the lessons learned through this study. We encourage practices to use nurse consultants as one way of improving quality of care.
