Advantages of a continuous nursing system: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: One of the major health challenges in the 21^st century is managing chronic diseases, which place a burden on every country. The frequency of repeat care for patients with chronic conditions is rising, resulting in increased medical and treatment costs for the state. The World Health Organization suggests discharge planning through continuity of care (COC), which involves consistent communication and coordination to distribute the workload evenly among healthcare teams.

Purpose: To identify the benefits of a continuous nursing system for patients.

Method: Applying a literature review following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Literature Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Articles were gathered from online databases including Proquest, SAGE Journals, Science Direct, and Wiley Online. The keywords used were "affect," "continuity of care," and "patient." Articles were selected based on the following inclusion criteria: focus on the benefits of a continuous nursing system for patients, publication years between 2010 and 2021, and use of cross-sectional, cohort, mixed research, and review methods.

Results: The benefits of a continuous nursing system include lower mortality rates, reduced risk of complications, better quality of care, reduced treatment costs, improved interpersonal relationships, higher patient satisfaction, and enhanced bodily functions.

Conclusion: A continuous nursing system offers significant benefits to patients and can be adopted across all healthcare services and patient groups.