| Description: |
Background: Access to sexual and reproductive healthcare in rural and regional areas is often limited, particularly for contraception and abortion care. Nurse-led models of care offer a promising solution, yet their implementation and evaluation in Australian primary care remain underexplored. We therefore examined stakeholders’ perceptions of clinical, organisational and policy factors influencing the adoption of nurse-led contraception and abortion care in rural and regional Australian general practice. Methods: A secondary analysis of qualitative data from a co-design workshop, aimed at developing a nurse-led model of care, was conducted. Participants included consumers, nurses, physicians, practice managers, community and advocacy organisation representatives, academics, and policymakers. The secondary analysis focused solely on data related to clinical, organisational, and policy factors that may influence the implementation of nurse-led contraception (involving contraceptive implant insertion) and medication abortion in rural and regional general practice. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research guided data analysis to enrich our understanding of implementation factors. Results: Fifty-two stakeholders participated in the workshop. Five themes were constructed: 1) the influences on nurses' capability to work to their full scope of practice, 2) formalising general practitioner-nurse partnerships for model sustainability, 3) integrating practice-based nurse training, 4) medico-legal implications for collaborative care and 5) leveraging funding models to support nurse-led care. Conclusion: Successful implementation of nurse-led contraception and medication abortion care requires improved funding models to ensure adequate nurse and practice remuneration, strengthened nurse-general practitioner partnerships, and employer support for ongoing nurse education. Policies fostering collaborative, multidisciplinary care will enhance the sustainability and effectiveness of these models in general practice. |