Organizing the provision of health care by “primary nursing” promotes quality

Abstract

Hospital organizations are influenced by policies, namely economical, and by technological advances and the effects of globalization, which altogether put emphasis towards the achievement of results. However, a continuous quality improvement should when people are at stake the processes aimed to achieve maximum efficiency cannot jeopardize the quality of care provided. The quality nursing care may imply a change in the traditional working methods of the more conservative paradigms of nursing. The method of reference nursing is congruent with the delegation of the management of care and simultaneously facilitates the professional development of nurses. We believe that it promotes co-responsibility and contribution of nurses, is a guaranty of quality of care, stimulates the nurse-patient ratio, favours the coordination and evaluation of care and encourages the use of the nursing process, which is indispensable to the achievement of this method. On a personal level, we can consider the contribution to maintaining motivation, reducing monotony, stimulating interest to learn, and allow nurses to directly see the final product of their work while deciding the processes and procedures for its implementation. The method of reference nursing promotes personalized monitoring of the patient and family, reinforces the nurse-patient relationship, contributes to the improvement of care, planning and development, and provides an individualized communication based on truth, trust and mutual respect. Based on literature and experience, we believe that organizing the provision of nursing care per nurse reference is a strategy to ensure quality of care. It is an enriching experience of formal delegation of authority in reference nursing to manage nursing.

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