Study of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Nursing Work Environments in Primary Care in Spain.

BACKGROUND: Nursing work environments are defined as the characteristics of the workplace that promote or hinder the provision of professional care by nurses. Positive work environments lead to better health outcomes. Our study aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of primary health care settings in Spain. METHODS: Cross-sectional study carried out from 2018 to 2019. We used the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index and the TOP10 Questionnaire of Assessment of Environments in Primary Health Care for data collection. The associations between sociodemographic and professional variables were analyzed. RESULTS: In total, 702 primary care nurses participated in the study. Responses were obtained from 14 out of the 17 Spanish Autonomous Communities. Nursing foundation for quality of care, management and leadership of head nurse and nurse-physician relationship were identified as strengths, whereas nurse participation in center affairs and adequate human resources to ensure quality of care were identified as weaknesses of the nursing work environment in primary health care. Older nurses and those educated to doctoral level were the most critical in the nursing work environments. Variables Age, Level of Education and Managerial Role showed a significant relation with global score in the questionnaire. CONCLUSION: Interventions by nurse managers in primary health care should focus on improving identified weaknesses to improve quality of care and health outcomes.

Results of Nurse Case Management in Primary Heath Care: Bibliographic Review.

BACKGROUND: The new characteristics of today's population, together with the presence of chronic diseases in the elderly, require a new approach to care, promoting coordination between different levels of care. In this sense, we find the figure of the nurse case manager (NCM) in primary health care mainly responsible for ensuring continuity of care in complex patients with chronic diseases. OBJECTIVE: to describe the role of the NCM in care management, determining its effectiveness in addressing chronic disease (health outcomes and quality of life) and its efficiency in the health system. METHODS: Bibliographic review of scientific evidence on case management applied to nursing. Between March and April 2020 a bibliographic search was carried out in the Dialnet, Scielo, Scopus and Pubmed databases. INCLUSION CRITERIA: articles written in the last 5 years, which analyze how this nursing rol influences the care and health of patients. RESULTS: A total of 16 articles were selected. The NCM reduced the use of the emergency department, hospital admissions, readmissions, and the duration of these in the patients studied. CONCLUSION: The NCM is effective and efficient for both patients and health institutions, and a common practice model is needed that includes standardized protocols and evidence-based practices.