Improving practice nurses’ capacity to deliver integrated person-centred care in the primary care arena

This abstract considers the role of practice nurses who are based in two large general practices. These practices serve over thirty thousand patients and are situated within two different towns in one county of Southern England. Practice nurses are well placed to deliver care to patients and families across the age spectrum and to individuals with a wide variety of conditions within the community setting. Practice nurses are often work with patients and families for a significant number of years for a number of health reasons including women's health and childhood vaccinations. Practice nurses should therefore be well placed to be able as a workforce to deliver high quality person centred integrated care in the primary care arena. However, practice nurses have identified a variety of barriers and restraints including resource implications, communication and digital issues which challenge their ability to deliver person centred integrated care. In face to face conversations with the practice nurses based in both general practices a number of strategies to improve the delivery of person centred integrated care are considered and devised and ways to implement these strategies in the primary care arena by the practice nurses are discussed.