[Knowledge of the nursing consultation in primary health care].

Objective: To find how much is known about the nursing surgeries in our health district. To compare the level of knowledge/use between the population covered and those with medical records.

Setting: Las Fuentes Norte health district, Zaragoza.

Participants: Sample A (population): systematic random sampling of families, selecting 100 homes from the telephone book. 212 interviews with people over 18. Sample B (institutional). Simple and proportional random sampling of 100 patients with records at the centre.

Design: A crossover descriptive study using a telephone survey.

Measurements And Main Results: 86.3% of sample A had attended the centre on some occasion since its opening. 42% of sample A and 60% of B knew that the nursing surgeries existed. 27% of A and 46% of B had used it. By age, in sample A those over 65 used it more; in B, those between 51 and 65. The most widely known nursing activities were: taking blood pressure (20.3% in sample A and 33% in B); weight monitoring (13.7% and 20%, respectively). 37.7% of sample A knew their nurse; 60% of B.

Conclusions: The nurse is still mainly identified with activities he/she has "classically" performed, like taking blood pressure and weight. Other more recent nursing activities, such as monitoring drug-dietetic treatments, preventive activities, check-ups of healthy children etc., are still not perceived by the general population.