The perspective of community health nursing in primary health care in Portugal

Abstract

Portugal, in 2005, initiated to reconfigure its health centers, an action referred to as the reform of primary health care, with the objective to improve accessibility, efficiency, quality and the continuity of care, and increase the satisfaction of the population and the professionals. The health center groups were reorganized and new types of units were created. Also, at the same time, the health care continuity process and the national network for integrated continuous care were developed. The nursing interventions in the care provided to individuals, families, groups and communities, in the current reform, are essential for success. The first reports still indicate a few inefficiencies that the current reform proposed to systematically improve, affecting the quality of good practices, users' well being, and workers' satisfaction.