To synthesize approaches used to evaluate nurse-led clinics (NLCs) and student-led clinics (SLCs) delivering community-based primary healthcare.
A scoping review based on Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines.
This review included articles evaluating the impact of NLCs and SLCs, published between 2013 and 2023. The Quadruple Aim Framework for health systems quality improvement was a reference point for thematic analysis.
CINAHL Complete, ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health, PubMed, Scopus, Health Systems Evidence, Ovid Emcare and grey literature repositories were searched in March–June 2023.
Our search yielded a total of 891 articles and 43 articles were included in this scoping review. Diverse quantitative and qualitative methods and concepts of interest were evident in the evaluations of NLCs (n = 15), medical SLCs (n = 15) and interprofessional SLCs (n = 13). Extracted data spoke to the evaluation of either client experience, health of communities, systems of care delivery or provider experience, with systems of care delivery being the most consistently evaluated domain across all clinic types.
Traditional and non-traditional evaluation measures spanning the Quadruple Aim Framework were used to study community-based NLCs and SLCs. Opportunities remain for broadening the range of indicators and methods used to capture clinic impact on health equity.
Numerous transferable research approaches are available to students and clinical professionals for supporting the design and iterative improvement of innovative primary healthcare clinics.
The results highlight ways in which NLCs and SLCs may be evaluated for their concurrent impact on healthcare service delivery and clinical education systems.
PRISMA-ScR.
Feedback amassed during presentations to nursing audiences informed the enclosed discussion points.
Review protocol was published with the Open Science Framework under ID 10.17605/OSF.IO/FP6S4