Contributions of Advanced Practice Nursing to Primary Health Care: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Objective: To map the contributions and strategies to implement advanced practice nursing in primary health care. Materials and methods: This scoping review was carried out following the guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute in six databases, namely: LILACS, MEDLINE, WoS, Embase, CINAHL, and Scopus, in addition to a bibliographic repository. A total of 3,076 studies were found, from which 12 were selected. Results: The contributions mentioned by the studies regarding advanced practice nursing were divided into three subcategories, as follows: care, educational or management, and preventive practices. They concern autonomy, specialized clinical skills, therapeutic counseling, and patient-centered interaction. Some strategies to implement advanced practice are related to continuing education, practice management, self-care, and disease management. Conclusions: There is a need to improve strategies for advanced practice nursing, especially in primary care, to address gaps in specialized care, the development of indicators, and therapeutic objectives.