Nurse case management in reducing neonatal complications: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the impact of nurse-mediated case management on prematurity, low birth weight, and neonatal mortality. Methods: A pragmatic, quasi-experimental, single-arm, clinical trial, conducted in a city in the south of Brazil, with implementation of the nurse-mediated case management model as an intervention during ten months, in a sample of 91 pregnant women. The intervention consisted of nursing and multi-professional appointments, educational actions, home visits, and a telephone call. The data of the intervention group were compared to the data of births from 2016 to 2018 in the city, with calculation of the relative risk, the absolute risk reduction and the number needed to treat. Results: Premature births accounted for 4.4% (95% CI 0.18%; 8.61%). Case management effectiveness in prematurity was 62%; for every 14 pregnant women in the intervention group, one premature birth was avoided. An absolute risk reduction of 7.3% was identified compared to previous city numbers. Newborns with low birth weight (<2500g) (p=0.975) were 8.9% of the total of neonates born, and neonatal mortality in the intervention group was not identified (p=0,850). Conclusion: Nurse-mediated case management during pregnancy proved to be a strategy for prevention of prematurity and demonstrated the magnitude in neonatal mortality. However, regarding the birth weight, this model had no effectiveness. The regular presence of nurses is fundamental to improve the care during pregnancy.