ArticlePloS one2015
Feasibility and Impact of Doctor-Nurse Task Delegation in Preventive Child Health Care in the Netherlands, a Controlled Before-After Study.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nursing role in well-child care: Systematic review of the literature.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2018Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators perceived by professionals while implementing Soothing and Sleeping in Dutch Healthcare: a mixed-methods study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Article
- Educational action to monitor children's growth and development based on the theory of meaningful learning.Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P · 2024Article
- A prospective study on the association between social support perceived by parents of children aged 1-7 years and the use of community youth health care services.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Healthcare professionals' perceptions about interprofessional teamwork: a national survey within Swedish child healthcare services.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Triage in preventive child healthcare: a prospective cohort study of care use and referral rates for children at risk.BMJ open · 2017Observational
- Improving team-based care for children: shared well child care involving family practice nurses.Primary health care research & development · 2017Article
- Preventive child health care at elementary school age: The costs of routine assessments with a triage approach.PloS one · 2017Article
- Task-Sharing Between Pediatricians and Non-Physician Healthcare Professionals in Outpatient Child Health Care in Germany: Assessment of Need and Acceptance for Concept Development.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the Netherlands a need is felt for more flexible Child Health Care services, both efficient and tailored to needs. We set up a study on impact and feasibility of task delegation to child health care nurses performing all regular checkups on children aged 2 months to 4 years. Abnormal findings were discussed with the attending child health care doctor. This article describes impact and feasibility of this task delegation from four viewpoints: competences of nurses; percentage of children assigned to the nurse; change in abnormal findings and referrals; experiences of professionals and parents.
methodsTwo experiment teams and two control teams were compared before and after starting task delegation. Nurses in the experiment teams were trained to carry out regular checkups on healthy children. Assignment to the experiment schedule was a joint decision by doctor and nurse. Nursing competences were measured by means of questionnaires. Percentage of children assigned to the nurse and screening results of eyes, heart, hips, growth and development were extracted from the electronic health record. Difference in change was compared between experiment and control teams. Mann-Whitney tests and logistic generalized estimating equations were used to test for significance. Experiences of professionals and parents were evaluated through focus group interviews, which were subjected to a qualitative analysis.
resultsNurses in the experiment regions showed improvement in medical screening skills. No difference in change was perceived in general nursing competences. In the experiment group, 69% of all children were assigned to the nurse. There were no significant differences in change in the percentages of abnormal findings or referrals in the experiment teams compared to the control teams, except for hips. Interviews showed that both doctors and nurses thought positively of the new working method, yet made some recommendations for improvements. Parents felt well-informed and experienced an equal level of proficiency but less continuity in person.
conclusionThis experiment shows that task delegation from doctor to nurse in preventive child health care is feasible. It is important to pay attention to the acceptation process of professionals during implementation. More investigation is needed in order to assess effectiveness and efficacy of task delegation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.