Treatment of minor health problems by primary care nurses: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aims: To assess the results of a nursing-led program to treatment of minor health issues from Catalan health institute primary care teams during 2019 and 2020. Background: In 2009, the Catalan health institute implemented a nursing program to deal with minor health problems. This nursing-led program includes an algorithm for each of the minor health problems and arose as a strategy to reorganise the flow of demand for care in primary care. Design: A cross-sectional design. Methods: Multicentric cross-sectional study. 392 primary care teams from the Catalan health institute participated in the study. STROBE guideline was followed in reporting this study. Patients attending any of the participating centres requesting a same-day consultation for minor health issues were registered. Results: A total of 21,215,278 consultations were recorded: 18,284,105 for adult and 2,931,173 for paediatric patients. Minor health issue resolved by the nurse was achieved in 50.9% of adult patients and 55.4% of paediatric patients. The highest rates of resolution in adults (>85%) were as follows: burns, emergency contraception and injuries. The highest resolution rates (>84%) were as follows: burns, breastfeeding difficulties and infant colic. 87.7% of prescriptions issued by nurses were accepted by the family physician. Conclusions: The nursing-led program to treat minor health issues has been shown to present acceptable resolution for nurses in a large primary care setting. Nurses have been carrying out prescription activities with very favourable results. Relevance to clinical practice: This study demonstrates that care provided to patients by nurses for minor health issues requiring preferential resolution is effective. Our results are useful in that they confirm both the effectiveness of the nursing-led program for minor health issues and the pharmacological prescriptions produced during patient appointments. Patient or public contribution: Patient's data were obtained through a program records system after the minor health issues appointments.