Nurse practitioner-physician comanagement of primary care patients: The promise of a new delivery care model to improve quality of care.

BACKGROUND: The U.S. primary care system is under tremendous strain to deliver care to an increased volume of patients with a concurrent primary care physician shortage. Nurse practitioner (NP)-physician comanagement of primary care patients has been proposed by some policy makers to help alleviate this strain. To date, no collective evidence demonstrates the effects of NP-physician comanagement in primary care. PURPOSE: This is the first review to synthesize all available studies that compare the effects of NP-physician comanagement to an individual physician managing primary care. METHODS: The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) framework guided the conduct of this systematic review. Five electronic databases were searched. Titles, abstracts, and full texts were reviewed, and inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied to narrow search results to eligible studies. Quality appraisal was performed using Downs and Black's quality checklist for randomized and nonrandomized studies. RESULTS: Six studies were identified for synthesis. Three outcome categories emerged: (a) primary care provider adherence to recommended care guidelines, (b) empirical changes in clinical patient outcomes, and (c) patient/caregiver quality of life. Significantly more recommended care guidelines were completed with NP-physician comanagement. There was variability of clinical patient outcomes with some findings favoring the comanagement model. Limited differences in patient quality of life were found. Across all studies, the NP-physician comanagementcare delivery model was determined to produce no detrimental effect on measured outcomes and, in some cases, was more beneficial in reaching practice and clinical targets. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The use of NP-physician comanagement of primary care patients is a promising delivery care model to improve the quality of care delivery and alleviate organizational strain given the current demands of increased patient panel sizes and primary care physician shortages. Future research should focus on NP-physician interactions and processes to isolate the attributes of a successful NP-physician comanagement model.

The Variability of Nursing Attitudes Toward Mental Illness: An Integrative Review.

Mental illnesses are common worldwide, and nurses' attitudes toward mental illness have an impact on the care they deliver. This integrative literature review focused on nurses' attitudes toward mental illness. Four databases were searched between January 1, 1995 to October 31, 2015 selecting studies, which met the following inclusion criteria: 1) English language; and 2) Research in which the measured outcome was nurses' attitudes toward mental illness. Fourteen studies conducted across 20 countries that 4282 participants met the inclusion criteria. No study was conducted in the United States (U.S.). Studies reported that nurses had mixed attitudes toward mental illness, which were comparable to those of the general public. More negative attitudes were directed toward persons with schizophrenia. Results indicate the need for further research to determine whether attitudes among nurses in the U.S. differ from those reported from other countries and to examine potential gaps in nursing curriculum regarding mental illness.