ArticleBMC family practice2006
Nurse telephone triage in out-of-hours GP practice: determinants of independent advice and return consultation.
Article in BMC family practice, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- The effect of nurses' preparedness and nurse practitioner status on triage call management in primary care: A secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the ESTEEM trial.International journal of nursing studies · 2016Trial
- Nurse triage in primary care: concept analysis.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Implementation of remote units in two large out-of-hours emergency primary care districts in Norway.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2025Observational
- Scoping review of nurse triage in primary care.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Article
- Telephone counselling by nurses in Norwegian primary care out-of-hours services: a cross-sectional study.BMC family practice · 2017Article
- Article
- Understanding of and adherence to advice after telephone counselling by nurse: a survey among callers to a primary emergency out-of-hours service in Norway.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2011Article
- Telephone triage by nurses in primary care out-of-hours services in Norway: an evaluation study based on written case scenarios.BMJ quality & safety · 2011Article
- Out of hours care: a profile analysis of patients attending the emergency department and the general practitioner on call.BMC family practice · 2010Article
- After-hours services in capitation-funded primary care practice: use and satisfaction.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2009Article
- Nurse practitioner management of acute in-hours home visit or assessment requests: a pilot study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2009Article
- Out-of-hours demand for GP care and emergency services: patients' choices and referrals by general practitioners and ambulance services.BMC family practice · 2007Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNowadays, nurses play a central role in telephone triage in Dutch out-of-hours primary care. The percentage of calls that is handled through nurse telephone advice alone (NTAA) appears to vary substantially between GP cooperatives. This study aims to explore which determinants are associated with NTAA and with subsequent return consultations to the GP.
methodsFor the ten most frequently presented problems, a two-week follow-up cohort study took place in one cooperative run by 25 GPs and 8 nurses, serving a population of 62,291 people. Random effects logistic regression analysis was used to study the determinants of NTAA and return consultation rates. The effect of NTAA on hospital referral rates was also studied as a proxy for severity of illness.
resultsThe mean NTAA rate was 27.5%--ranging from 15.5% to 39.4% for the eight nurses. It was higher during the night (RR 1.63, CI 1.48-1.76) and lower with increasing age (RR 0.96, CI 0.93-0.99, per ten years) or when the patient presented >2 problems (RR 0.65; CI 0.51-0.83). Using cough as reference category, NTAA was highest for earache (RR 1.49; CI 1.18-1.78) and lowest for chest pain (RR 0.18; CI 0.06-0.47). After correction for differences in case mix, significant variation in NTAA between nurses remained (p < 0.001). Return consultations after NTAA were higher after nightly calls (RR 1.23; CI 1.04-1.40). During first return consultations, the hospital referral rate after NTAA was 1.5% versus 3.8% for non-NTAA (difference -2.2%; CI -4.0 to -0.5).
conclusionImportant inter-nurse variability may indicate differences in perception on tasks and/or differences in skill to handle telephone calls alone. Future research should focus more on modifiable determinants of NTAA rates.
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