Influence of Workload on Primary Care Nurses’ Health and Burnout, Patients’ Safety, and Quality of Care: Integrative Review

Abstract

The increase in the demand for care has not led to a proportional growth in the number of primary care nurses. This imbalance is related to the decrease in the quality of care and patient safety, and also to the impact on the health of the professional group. The objective of this study is to identify relationships between overload, illness of the nurse, professional exhaustion, quality and safety in the services; and differentiate study methods and instruments for measuring the phenomena. For this, a comprehensive and structured review of the literature following the scoping review model is performed. The studies on which this review is based allow us to recognize that the scope of this phenomenon is global. The review includes 45 studies that show that there is a high pressure of care for Primary Care nursing, who suffer many alterations of their health due to burnout syndrome and that this situation contributes to the impairment of the quality of care and patient safety. However, for future lines, new evidence is needed to determine the degree of relationship between the high pressure suffered by Primary Care nursing and the attainment of health goals for professionals and patients.