A Program of Nurse Management for Unscheduled Consultations of Children With Acute Minor Illnesses in Primary Care

IntroductionAttention to patients with acute minor illnesses represents a major burden for primary care. Although programs of nurse care for children with acute minor illnesses in primary care started a long time ago, there is limited information about the results of these programs in current practice. ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a program of nurse management for unscheduled consultations of children with acute minor illnesses. MethodsObservational study of children seeking unscheduled consultations for 16 acute minor illnesses in 284 primary care practices during a 2-year period. The program of nurse management used predefined management algorithms. FindingsAmong 467,160 consultations performed, case resolution was achieved in 65.4%. The remaining 34.6% of cases were not solved by the primary healthcare nurse due to the existence of signs of alarm and were referred to a pediatrician. Return to consultation during a 7-day period for the same reason as the original consultation was only 2.6%. ConclusionsA program that uses management algorithms is effective for nurse care management of children with acute minor illnesses in primary care.