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Nursing care and midwifery

The purpose of nursing care is to maintain and, where possible, improve patients’ state of health and ability to cope, to provide treatment and support to patients in a stable condition and, if necessary, to alleviate their ailments.

Midwifery

 Midwife is an independent specialist who offers care during the fertile period of a woman. In midwifery procedures, the midwife gives guidelines, monitors, cares for and counsels women during pregnancy, childbirth, and after giving birth. A midwife also helps to solve gynaecological problems. They also assign, perform and assess medical screenings. In addition, midwives engage in prevention work and counsel women about women’s diseases and sexual health. 

A midwife has a limited right to prescribe medicines, which allows them to issue certain prescription medicines. They also have a right to issue a certificate of incapacity for work due to maternity leave, to temporarily prescribe less strenuous work during pregnancy or to suggest changing jobs during pregnancy.


A home birth is labour outside the hospital, planned during pregnancy according to the wish of the future mother, agreed during doctor’s visits, taking place at home and supported by a midwife. 
A midwife supporting home birth has to have a relevant activity licence – documented practical experience of obstetric care at an obstetric care provider, receiving at least 150 births during the last five years, or the corresponding level of professional qualification. The midwife must also have completed theoretical and practical training in newborn and adult resuscitation recognised by a relevant professional association.
 

Nursing care

The purpose of nursing care is to maintain and, where possible, improve patients’ state of health and ability to cope, to provide treatment and support to patients in a stable condition and, if necessary, to alleviate their ailments. Nursing care services are also needed by patients who are not able to cope independently due to a chronic illness or a disability. Nursing care services are needs-based services offered at school, in a health centre, in a hospital, at home, or at a care institution. In addition to needing nursing care, a patient may also have a need to use social and welfare services.


Nursing care services include:


Nursing care at schools – the focus is on health promotion, prevention of illnesses and health monitoring.
The essence of the service: monitoring students’ health condition, health promotion, prevention of illnesses, developing a healthy lifestyle and school environment, if necessary, providing emergency and primary care. In monitoring students’ health and development, the school nurse follows the guidelines “Guide for Monitoring Children’s Health“

Home nursing is intended for patients whose health condition needs professional medical care (wound care, people with reduced mobility, etc.), but who can mostly manage on their own or with the help of family or friends. The service is provided both at home and at a care centre. A referral is issued by a specialty doctor or a family physician together with a nurse. The referral includes the health problems of the patient, treatment guidelines and the necessity of having nursing care. 


The essence of the service: different nursing care activities that include drawing up a nursing plan, health counselling of a patient and their loved ones, suggesting preventative activities, carrying out different nursing care and treatment procedures.


Outpatient nursing care – the goal of this outpatient service in specialist medicine, directed mainly to people who have chronic illnesses, is health promotion and prevention of illnesses. 


The essence of the service: health-preserving, health-promoting and disease-preventing activities related to a person’s health awareness, self-care and health status; teaching how to cope with a long-term illness during the healing period of an acute illness, together with nursing activities that support the treatment prescribed by a doctor. Nurses who have completed a relevant training can also extend the patients’ prescriptions. 


Inpatient nursing care is intended for a patient in a stable condition not needing continuous medical care, but who needs care to the extent that exceeds the facilities of home nursing. A doctor decides whether a patient needs inpatient nursing care and provides a patient with a referral for the service. 


The essence of the service: different nursing procedures, treatment procedures prescribed by a doctor, counselling the loved ones of the patient on health matters, etc. 

Last updated: 10.10.2022