Job satisfaction among practice nurses in a health district

A questionaire survey of practice nurses was carried out in a health district. Sixty-three out of 86 nurses responded. In choosing a job in general practice, nurses were leaving the hierarchy of hospital nursing and looking forward to more autonomy and teamwork. However, the latter aspiration did not seem to be realized and a considerable proportion of nurses perceived poor support from their general practitioner (GP) colleagues. This study suggests that practice nurses seem to be involved more in task substitution rather than teamwork, despite conventional GP rhetoric in support of the latter.