Effectiveness of the Community Nurse Case Manager in Primary Care for Complex and Pluripathological Chronic Dependent Patients: Study Protocol

Aims

To assess the effect of the implementation of the Community Nurse Case Manager (CNCM) in the care of complex and pluripathological chronic patients (CPCP) with dependence, from Primary Care, on functional capacity, cognitive performance, quality of life, consumption of health resources, clinical parameters, overload of the main caregiver, and satisfaction of the user and/or caregiver.

Design

Pre- and post-intervention quasi-experimental study in CPCP.

Methods

212 subjects will be recruited from two urban health centers in Salamanca (Spain) with complex and chronic pluripathology (CCP) associated to cardiac, respiratory pathology and/or diabetes mellitus, who are dependent and have a planned hospital discharge.

An initial evaluation will be performed after hospital discharge in both groups, including: anamnesis (prescribed drugs and symptoms attributable to the underlying pathology), physical examination (blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation), determination of capillary HbA1c, and assessment of functional capacity (Barthel), cognitive performance (MoCA), quality of life (COOP-WONCA), therapeutic adherence and overload of the main caregiver (Zarit). There will be another evaluation at 3,6 and 12 months, when these same variables will be collected, in addition to the number of readmissions in each period and the satisfaction of the user and/or caregiver (Satisfad 14). The nurse from the Primary Care team will provide both groups with the usual care contemplated for this type of patient in the Portfolio of Services of the Health Service of Castilla y León. Additionally, in the experimental group there will be telephone follow-up and the caregiver will be trained on the signs of decompensation and the care required.

Conclusion

The deployment of the NCM (Nurse Care Manager) in Primary Care will provide comprehensive and individualized care to the CPCP and the main caregiver with proactive monitoring. In addition, it will reinforce the involvement of the caregiver and the patient to improve their self-care and will detect early signs and symptoms of decompensation to avoid hospital readmissions.