The Primary Nursing Care Model and Inpatients’ Nursing-Sensitive Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis of Quantitative Studies

Background: The delivery of quality, safe, and patient-centered care is foundational for professional practice. The primary nursing model allows nurses to have excellent knowledge about patients and families and to plan and coordinate care from admission to discharge, with better management of health situations. Nurses play a crucial role in improving patients’ outcomes, namely those sensitive to nursing care. The knowledge of the relationship between the primary nursing model and the nursing-sensitive outcomes provides new scientific evidence that strengthens the relevance of this nursing care organization model in the inpatients’ health outcomes. This systematic review describes the relationship between nurse-sensitive inpatients’ outcomes and the primary nursing care model. Methods: A systematic review was conducted with a narrative synthesis, and the following databases were searched: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Nursing & Allied Health Collection, SciELO Collections, and Cochrane. Results: A total of 22 full texts were assessed, of which five were included in the study according to the selection criteria. The analysis results indicated that the primary nursing care model was related to nursing-sensitive patient safety outcomes. Patients’ experience was also considered a nursing-sensitive outcome, namely in the satisfaction with nursing care. Conclusion: The negative outcomes are clearly related to the primary nursing care model. There is scarce research that relates primary nursing to positive outcomes, such as patients’ functional status and self-care abilities, and more studies are needed.