Changes in the care context: challenges for nursing

Abstract

This research aimed to identify global changes in the way of practicing and understanding care, as well as the demands population change has generated and the implications for family and professional caregivers. An integrative literature review was performed, identifying 284 papers with the following descriptors: care and caregivers, associated with the descriptor “Nursing”, published between 2005 and 2010. Forty-one papers were selected that correspond to the intended goal. The results point towards a care transition model, reconfigured by new care demands, which are mainly associated with the increase in chronic conditions and population aging. In addition, the change in social and individual roles takes care beyond the family sphere and closer to shared social responsibility. Care is the axis around which nurses rotate. Hence, it is fundamental to analyze this context, which demands evolution in professional care development.