The journal ‘Specialized Nursing Practice for Chronic Disease Management in the Primary Care Setting’ by Health Quality Ontario (2013) is based on an evidence-based quasi-experimental study that involved obtaining and analyzing research evidence of the role played by specialized care nurses in the management of chronic disease and the outcomes among patients under specialized care. Due to comparisons between the different roles played by the nurses and physicians, the article qualifies to be a comparative study. The search for literature was performed using OVID EMBASE, OVID MEDLINE, EBASCO, CINAHL, Center for Review and Dissemination database, and the Wiley Cochrane Library with results limited to systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials. The main qualification of relevant data was that literature had to be indexed dating up to 3 May 2012. Nevertheless, other standard guidelines for the study were set under the exclusion and inclusion criteria. The abstracts for the sources were then reviewed to confirm whether they met the criteria for eligibility while the reference lists were evaluated to identify whether any additional studies were missed. After review, the studies were divided into two distinct models depending on the existing interactions between the physicians and the specialized health care nurses. In the first model, the specialized care by nurses was compared to that provided by the physicians while the second model combined the role of both physicians and nurses to be compared with that of the physicians in isolation. From the study, it emerged that there is was a need for intervention that would encourage partnerships between physicians and nurses in providing specialized health care management of chronic cases to increase the prospects of positive outcomes among the patients (Health Quality Ontario, 2013).
Reference List
Health Quality Ontario. (2013). Specialized Nursing Practice for Chronic Disease Management in the Primary Care Setting: An Evidence-Based Analysis. Ontario Health Technology Assessment Series, 13(10), 1–66.