Context: Primary care teams have a central role in the management of chronic diseases. Within these teams, nurses are key players, involved in several dimensions of the quality of care provided to these populations. Improving nurses' practices is a central component of performance in the management of chronic diseases and complex primary care needs, particularly in coordination, continuity of care and self-care activities.
Objectives: To identify nursing practices that contribute to optimal chronic disease management in primary care settings.
Study design : Systematic overview of systematic reviews. Quantitative systematic reviews were included and mixed-method systematic reviews were considered if quantitative data were separated. The methodological quality was assessed independently by two reviewers using the AMSTAR 2 tool. The design of this review is based on the recommendations of The Joanna Briggs Institute.
Setting or Dataset : A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews as well as grey literature. Publications in English and French were considered (2005-2020).
Population Studied : Adults receiving care for one or more chronic condition(s).
Intervention/ Instrument : Any intervention, care, procedure, practice or service provided by a nurse in primary care.
Main and Secondary Outcome Measures: Outcomes include any measure that reflects an improvement in service delivery or health outcomes for patients with chronic condition(s).
Results or Anticipated Results: Thirty-four systematic reviews were included in the overview. Nursing practices associated with positive outcomes will be categorized according to four components of the Chronic Care Model. For each intervention, a synthesis of its main characteristics (mode, intensity, frequency, duration, care structure, provider qualifications), target populations (age, number of chronic diseases, recent hospitalization history and physician affiliation) will be presented.
Conclusions: This review provides a portrait of nursing practices that have demonstrated improved patient outcomes. Therefore, this synthesis could be used as a basis for identifying gaps between best practices and current practices in order to foster the conditions necessary for their deployment in primary care.