Care dimensions of nurses' work in primary care

Abstract

Objective to analyze the development of care practices of nurses working in Primary Health Care. Method A cross-sectional and quantitative study was carried out with 216 nurses from 97 municipalities in two Health Macroregions of the state of Santa Catarina, who answered a survey-type questionnaire in 2019. The data were submitted to analytical and inferential descriptive statistics. Results Among the care practices, there was a prevalence of welcoming and Nursing consultation, strengthening their autonomy and Primary Care resoluteness, followed by Nursing procedures. Home visits stand out for the periodicity of up to three times a week, and the educational activities were concentrated on fortnightly periodicity. Health education activities are mainly targeted at users with chronic pathologies. Nurses favor individual care approaches to the detriment of group educational actions. Conclusion and implications for the practice There is a need to strengthen the educational dimension in nurses' work, which has repercussions on care and management activities in Primary Health Care, especially those aimed at groups.