Quality of teamwork of family doctors and community nurses in primary care for the elderly in two organizational settings--opinions of the family doctors.

PURPOSE The elderly are a growing part of the society and a further growth is expected in the demand for both medical and nursing services performed by primary health care institutions. The aim of this work is to answer the question: "Does the form of employment of community nurses in primary health care institutions influence the quality of interdisciplinary cooperation in caring for elderly patients?" MATERIAL AND METHODS The research was conducted among family doctors, who provided health care in the city of Białystok under the contract with the National Health Fund. The questionnaire was answered by 104 family doctors. Of this number 69 employed a family nurse and 35 co-operated with a non-public community nursing unit. The database of institutions and doctors employed was acquired from the National Health Fund. The research tool was an anonymous questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS The opinions of family doctors on the quality of geriatric care provided by the nurses depend strongly on their form of employment. Family doctors' units which employ nurses have a greater scope and better quality of care services for the elderly in comparison to those, which only co-operate with nurses.