Clients views on the services of nurse practitioners in selected parishes

ABSTRACT

This study was done to elicit the views of clients on the services of the nurse practitioners in selected parishes. Information received from this study could be used to assist in evaluation of these services. A ten-item interview schedule was used to collect data over a three-day period. Because of inclement weather, only 164 of the total sample of 234 clients were interviewed. The data collected were manually processed, and the major findings are as follows 1. An overwhelming majority of respondents (93 percent) expressed general satisfaction with the care being received from the nurse practitioner. 2. A vast majority of respondents (90.2 percent) are in favour of having more practitioners working in the health centres. 3. Respondents unanimously said they would recommend the services of the nurse practitioner to their family, friends, and others in need of health care. 4. 142 of the 164 respondents (87 percent) did not find it necessary to visit a doctor about the same illness after having been treated by the nurse practitioner. 5. The existing client demand for care is more than the nurse practitioner can adequately cope with at present, as evidenced by clients indicating that they had to wait a long time for care because many clients were attending the clinic. 6. The age or sex of clients did not seem to make any difference to the views expressed regarding the services of the nurse practitioner. 7. Most clients had been attending the clinic/health centres for over three years, but their views on the services offered by the nurse practitioners were no different from those of clients who had been attending the health centre for less than three years. (summary)