‘Thinking outside the box’: advanced geriatric nursing in primary health care in Scandinavia

BACKGROUND: Older people are frequent users of primary health care (PHC) services. PHC services have been critiqued, mainly regarding limited accessibility and continuity of care. In many countries, investment in nurse practitioners (NPs) has been one strategy to improve PHC services. In the North of Europe, the NP role is still in its infancy. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of introducing geriatric nurse practitioners (GNPs) in PHC in Scandinavia, from multiprofessional and older persons’ perspectives. METHODS: The study had a qualitative design, including 25 semi-structured interviews with nurses, nurse leaders, physicians, politicians and older persons from several communities in Scandinavia. The material was analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The results highlight current challenges in health services for the older population, i.e. comorbid older patients with complex care needs aging in place, lack of competent staff, and organisational challenges. The results present an envisioned GNP scope of practice in health services for the older population, including bringing advanced competence closer to the patient, an autonomous role including task-shifting, and a linking role. The results also present factors influencing implementation of the GNP role, i.e. GNP competence level, unclear role and scope of practice, and openness to reorganisation. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that it is feasible to implement the GNP role in primary health care in Scandinavia. Notwithstanding, there are factors influencing implementation of the GNP role that should be considered. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12912-019-0350-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.