Table 2 Illustrative quotations on increasing the role of primary healthcare nurses in contraceptive services

• “I think as nurses we can have more time to sit and talk and explain the process. It’s the same with the Pap tests. It’s just a sensible thing to have nurses doing [contraceptive implant insertions], and it’s a very mechanical—it’s not a difficult process.” (Participant 14, nurse, regional)

• “[If nurses inserted the contraceptive implant] that would be awesome … It would increase access for the young people so much … We’d be able to meet the demand of the Implanons that young people want to get put in … There’s a lot of practice nurses as well now who are Pap test providers and they might see [doing Implanon insertions] as adding a little bit extra. Therefore just being able to be a little bit more comprehensive when they’re doing a sexual and reproductive health consult.” (Participant 9, nurse, regional)

• “I think of all the procedures that there are in general practice, that would be one of the easier ones that a practice nurse could do … I’m sure you’d get GPs who stomp their feet about it and say, ‘No! No! That’s not right! They should be kept down in the dark ages where they were’. I think you are just gonna get your old-school doctor resistance.” (Participant 6, general practitioner, major city)

• “I don’t know. I would have to think about that, whether that would be the way to go or not. Whether it is a nurse’s responsibility to insert contraception … I don’t know where that would sit within the scope of practice for nurses.” (Participant 11, nurse, regional)