Nurse-led service delivery models in primary care: A scoping review protocol

Background Ensuring equitable access to health care is reliant on the strengthening of primary care services. Increasing the utilisation of task-sharing and telehealth models is one strategy to improve patient access and outcomes in primary care. This protocol details the methodology of a proposed scoping review of nurse and midwife involvement in task-sharing and telehealth models in primary care.

Aim Undertaking this review will identify what models have been utilised in the primary care setting globally, the characteristics and health and economic outcomes of the models and whether these models are acceptable and feasible.

Design and setting This protocol was developed in line with Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology for Scoping Reviews and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P).

Methods and analysis Five databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Cochrane Library) will be searched for relevant studies published in English. Articles will be screened for inclusion in Covidence by three authors, with data extracted and synthesised using a chart designed for this review. Evidence will be mapped in both tabular and narrative forms to show characteristics, outcomes and acceptability of the models of care. Ethical approval is not required as data utilised is publicly available.

Conclusions Understanding how nurse and midwife-led models of care may operate is crucial to strengthening service provision in primary care. Evidence on nurse and midwife led primary care models will be collated and synthesised to inform future models