Date of Conferral
10-26-2026
Date of Award
October 2026
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Catherine Garner
Abstract
Primary care within family health teams in Ontario, Canada continue to face increasing pressure from rising chronic disease prevalence, growing patient complexity, and limited access to timely care. Within this context, the RN functioning as the Primary Care Nurse Clinician (PCNC) plays a critical role in chronic disease management. However, the PCNC role remains inconsistently defined and is often underutilized, limiting scope of practice, reducing team efficiency, and contributing to gaps in care delivery. This DNP project is about an evaluation of an evidence-based practice translation/practice change initiative. The purpose of this project was to conduct an evaluation of the practice guidelines designed to standardize the PCNC role, promote full-scope nursing practice, and strengthen integration within interprofessional teams. Initial feedback from the PCNCs and physician and nursing leadership on the guidelines and supportive documents suggests that the standardized PCNC resources were viewed as practical and useful, particularly the physician and administrator handouts and updated documentation stamps. The feedback also identified specific areas requiring clarification and refinement, demonstrating the importance of stakeholder input during implementation. This information was provided to the practice committee for further refinement. The updated documents will be reviewed again by practice teams and presented to a larger group of physician providers, case managers and leadership for feedback prior to the finalization of the documents. This process is important to obtain the buy in of primary care teams.
Recommended Citation
Zindel, Tabitha, "Optimizing the Primary Care Nurse Role Through Standardization of Competencies" (2026). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 20969.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/20969
