The dedicated nurse in the multiple sclerosis centre: effects on the self-management capacity in home therapy patients

Abstract

Introduction People affected by multiple sclerosis require a continuous system of care. The optimum position to coordinate care can be obtained with nurse, within an MS Centre, who provide a range of abilities for patients oriented toward self-management of the pathology. Objective To assess whether the presence of nurse in MS Centres can affect patients' ability to self-manage the disease. Methods Cross-sectional, observational, multicentric study. Twelve MS Centers have been divided into two sample groups based on the presence or not of a nurse. Through the MSSM-R the degree of patient's self-management was measured. Results MSSM-R Scale did not show any statistically significant differences between patients belonging to the two arms. Patients recognize nurses as indispensable within the centers. Conclusions The study did not find statistically significant differences between the two groups.The importance of nurse emerges, as well as the need to demonstrate its role in the management of the disease with further scientific studies

Keywords

• Nurses
• Chronic disease
• multiple sclerosis
• self-management