The public health nurse cutting-edge care model in Spain

Abstract

Objective  to analyze the figure of the Spanish visiting nurse from 1921 to 1953.

Method  This is a historical-social, qualitative study based on primary and secondary documentary sources. The Dialectical Structural Model of Care (DSSM) was used to support the data management and analysis process.

Results  Spanish visiting nurses had specialization in public health, acquired at Bedford College, in England, or at the Rockefeller Foundation, in the United States. They worked in rural and urban environments, performing their work in Primary and Secondary Centers of Rural Hygiene, where they educated the population about personal hygiene and public health rules.

Conclusion and implications for practice  Spanish nurse visitors were able to expand health education throughout the country, promote hygienic and nutritional habits for the general population, reduce the incidence of infectious-contagious diseases, and promote sanitary reforms that began at the beginning of the 20^th century. Currently, the figure of the visiting nurse can be considered a forerunner of the specialist nurse in family and community care.

Keywords:  Health Care; Community Health Nurses; Nursing; Public Health