Caseload management: an approach to making community needs visible
Abstract
AIM: To explore the process employed in the development of a population health framework and documentation for managing community nursing caseloads.
BACKGROUND: No formal structure exists to validate and link local health information collected by Irish public health nurses to a wider epidemiological framework. Neglect of this bottom up information forfeits opportunities to resource and manage public health nursing services.
DESIGN: Action research methods guided the development of the framework in one geographic area in Dublin and 34 participants engaged in Stringer's (1996) Look, Think and Act cycle.
RESULTS: The framework identified four patient registers: family health, chronic sick/disability, older adults and acute care, which identify public health outcomes for discussion within the caseload analysis process and can predict risk factors in local populations.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of the developed documentation identified a framework that describes caseloads in primary care and provides nurse managers with an evidence base to allocate resources, match skill mix to need, and estimate future workforce requirements.