Contribution by primary health nurses and general practitioners to the Diabetes Annual Review (Get Checked) programme in Auckland, New Zealand.

Aim: To describe primary health care (practice and specialist) nurses involvement in the government-funded annual diabetes review 'Get Checked' programme and the division of care between nurses and general practitioners in Auckland, New Zealand.
Method: Of the total 911 practice and specialist nurses identified and working in the greater Auckland region, 276 (30%) were randomly selected and invited to undertake a self-administered questionnaire and telephone interview in 2006-8.
Results: An 86% response rate was achieved. Over 60% of practice nurses and over half of specialist nurses participate in 'Get Checked' reviews. Of those nurses, 40% of practice and 70% specialist nurses, reported completing over half of the total number of 'Get Checked' reviews at their practice. Of the nurses sampled who work in general practice (n=198), 38% reported that 'nurses mostly complete' the reviews, 45% stated that 'nurses and doctors equally complete' them and 17% reported that only 'doctors' did so. For the nurses who reported that 'nurses and doctors equally complete' the reviews (n=89), most nurses undertake blood pressure measurements (90%), weigh patients (88%), give lifestyle advice (87%), examine patient's feet (73%), and 44% carried out the complete review of the patients they consult.
Conclusion: These findings show the 'Get Checked' programme was successful in engaging practice and community-based specialist nurses in the community management of diabetes and has revealed positive relationships between nurses and doctors, extended roles for nurses and the importance of engaging nurses in the design of health care programmes.