DISTRICT NURSING IN DOMINICA

District nurses constitute the basis of the primary health care servic es in Dominica. All encounters of three district nurses were registere d using the international classification of primary care. Information on other aspects of district nursing was collected by participating ob servation and the use of a questionnaire. Check ups for hypertension, diabetes, pregnancy and immunisations constituted 40% of all reasons f or encounter. The district nurses dealt with 80% of all contacts; only 20% of all patients were referred to the district medical officer. Th ere are several discouragements to the motivation of the nurses. In ad dition to being a nurse, all have their family and other obligations. Postgraduate training with diversified certification and upgrading of wages could contribute to a continued high motivation and Increased jo b satisfaction. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.