The functional message behavior inventory.  Linking nursing action with health care outcomes. 
In an era where issues concerning cost and quality of care are constantly raised, it will be increasingly important that expanded-role nurses be able to define their unique contributions to primary care.  This will require nurses to self-inventory their nursing processes and conduct research that serves to link nursing action processes to health care outcomes.  In order to lay the groundwork for accomplishing this goal, this article provides a brief assessment of the strengths and limitations of an existing primary care process measure (the nurse practitioner rating form), and furnishes a conceptual framework for constructing an alternative process measure--the functional message behavior inventory.