Estrategia Integral para la Ampliación del Rol de Enfermería en la Atención Primaria de Salud

Introduction: Disparities between the burdens resulting from chronic illnesses and the corresponding responses by the health systems increase the inequalities in terms of coverture and effective access to the health services. In response to this situation, the Health Secretariat of Mexico integrated diverse groups to work with the aim of designing strategies which can contribute to finding solutions to this problematic through the optimization and distribution of the nursing functions. Objective: To Inform on the Nursing Role Enhancement Integral Strategy in order to establish corresponding policies related to human resources formation, and incorporate this new role into the health public system in Mexico. Methodology: This document informs on how this Strategy was designed, its development process, and the components which integrate it, all within the Mexican Framework on Competencies to the Enhancement of the Nursing Role. Results: The needed actions to implement this Strategy were identified and further classified into three components: Work-related, Education-formation-related, and Legal-normative-related. Advocacy and Diffusion were determined as the transversal axes. Discussion: Strategies to strengthen the health service provision model in a community level have not changed in many years. The implementation of the Strategy, matter of this document, projects a transformation towards a resolutive model in that human resources are actively deployed into the community. Conclusions: This Strategy seeks adapting the composition of the primary healthcare working force and optimizing its performance in order to better address the health needs of the community.