COPD, diabetes and chronic pain perfectly represent what chronic disease is.In Spain there are many patients who suffer from these pathologies since the increase in life expectancy has increased its prevalence.
Therefore, during the International Nursing Congress of Barcelona, Esteve has brought together several experts in the subject to value where the health system is directed and what role is nursing in that aged future.
"We wanted to know what is being done in these important areas of chronicity," said David González, Medical Unit Manager of Integral Care de Esteve.
Cristina Columbo, a diabetes specialist nurse at the Clinic Hospital in Barcelona, has shown a health education program on which she is working.
"It is a project that is starting but that excites us a lot because it reflects the important role that nurses and our role in education and patient care have," said the nurse.
Healthy life habits are the best treatment for these patients and form them in this area are responsibilities of nursing."Facing the future we ask for more support from the institutions," he added.
more autonomy
In the opinion of María Carrión, an advanced practice nurse of the University of Navarra Clinic, nurses have to have more prominence and integrate into the structures that regulate these patients: "We have a lot of potential to go further but we must assume our professional autonomy forto be able to make the right decisions and be in meetings where we talk about the changes that take place in patient assistance. "Carrión has pointed out during the symposium that the fundamental pillar for chronic patient care is multidisciplinarity.At present, the patient only has the nurse and the doctor: "We want more professionals to participate."
epoc
COPD is a very frequent, preventable and treatable disease."Before talking about COPD was talking about smoking, but the last definitions have changed and this pathology is also related to other factors, such as harmful gases," said Jordi Giner, a nurse at the Sant Pau hospital in Barcelona."In this pathology, the nurse has a very important job: locating cases as soon as possible. Early detection will prevent the patient from taking many medication and the severity of the disease cannot increase," Giner added.
Primary Care
The toilets who work day by day in primary care are the professionals who treat the most with these patients."Nursing has a great impact on the population because we make many monitoring visits to chronic patients," said Carolina Lapena, Sanllehy Primary Care Nurse (AP).And it is that many of the chronic patients treated in primary care are usually patients who have pluripatologies."During the assistance we have to handle all these problems synchronized," he said.