Abstract
While hospitals have widely adopted quality improvement (QI) initiatives, primary care practices continue to face unique challenges to QI implementation. The purpose of this article is to outline a strategy for promoting QI in primary care practices by introducing specially trained nurses. Two case examples are described, one with a QI nurse external to the practice and one with a nurse internal to the practice. Lessons learned and barriers and facilitators to QI in primary care are presented. Barriers and facilitators are identified in the following categories: practice infrastructure, practice leadership, and practice organizational culture. Implications for primary care practitioners and avenues for future work are discussed.