Adolescent nursing consultation: an important excerpt from care provided by nurses in a Brazilian state

Abstract

Objective: the care of adolescents with or without a chronic disease must complete, standardized and focused on individual demands and the transition process to adult care and adherence to treatment. This study aimed to characterize the care provided by nurses from the state of São Paulo who work with adolescents. Method: this is a cross-sectional and descriptive study on the care provided to adolescents by nurses in São Paulo, based on the answers to a self-administered questionnaire, available in the REDCap tool between August 2018 and October 2019. Results: participants answered 1632 questionnaires. Only 38% of nurses work with adolescents, 11.2% exclusively. Professionals were divided according to the median length of professional experience in groups A and B (≤5 years and >5 years). Drug addiction (p=0.01) and working with a multidisciplinary team (p=0.04) were significantly more reported in group B. Routine follow-up (p=0.02) and questioning about sexual or physical violence (p=0.03) were significantly more performed by professionals from group A. Conclusion: this study identified the need for a care protocol that can be replicated on a large scale and that includes the treatment and the particularities of adolescents to improve adherence and the transition into adult care.