Impact of training and legal aspects on the application of nurse demand management by primary care nurses in Catalonia

Objective: To evaluate the experience of primary care nurses in the application of nurse demand management (NDM).Design: Observational, cross-sectional descriptive study. Location: Primary care in Catalonia.Participants: Nurses in the field of primary care in Catalonia. A sample of 394 responses was estimated and 405 were finally obtained. Data collection was from October 2021 to January 2022. Main measurements: An ad hoc questionnaire was developed which explored aspects related to the experience of applying NDM: definition and management of the program, training, and legal concerns of the program.Results: Nurses understand NDM as triage. In addition, they consider that the implementation of nurse prescription would not improve the application of NDM. They express a lack of training, especially among the younger nurses. They consider that the ideal training in NDM, should include physiopathology and practical cases. Seven out of ten nurses are unaware of the legal framework that protects NDM and feel insecure about not knowing it. Six out of ten nurses have stopped being resolutive due to fear of legal repercussions. Nurses who are aware of the legal framework are those who have stopped resolving in the lowest proportion.Conclusions: There is a need for general training in NDM and in the legal aspects that cover the program, especially for younger nurses with less experience in primary care. This will improve the application and acceptance of the autonomous nursing role in the management of acute minor illnesses.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).