A survey to investigate the role of the district nurse in stroke care.

The long-term needs of people who have had a stroke and their carers are not being adequately addressed. A stroke care coordinator based in primary care might improve service delivery: the district nurse has been suggested as a possible candidate. A postal survey was conducted with three primary care trusts in Bradford to investigate the current role of the district nurse in stroke care and to examine their potential as stroke care coordinator. District nurses from 24 (59%) teams responded to the survey. Twenty-two (44%) were aware of the national clinical guidelines for stroke and five (10%) had received stroke-related training within the previous year. The district nurses demonstrated insight into the types of longer term problems experienced by people who have had a stroke and their carers. While findings of the survey suggests that they would be a likely candidate for the stroke care coordinator role, there are major educational, training and organizational challenges to implementing this change.