Tele-Nursing in Chronic Disease Care: A Systematic Review

 Telenursing is considered as a part of telemedicine, and based on the definition, the nurses managing the health needs of the patients is all done by information and communications technology. We searched from SID, Magiran, Irandoc, as well as the international banks Web of Sciences, Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane, Embase, Online Library Wiley, Ebsco, CINHAL, and the Google Scholar search engines. Moreover, manual search was performed for more papers. All internal and external published articles were searched on all databases and reference sites. After searching 250 papers, including 178 English papers and 72 Persian papers, 15 papers that fully matched the subject remained, with eight being Persian papers and 7 English. From the 15 studies examined, one study had selected its patients from among the ones with a heart valve replacement surgery, seven studies had examined the effect of telenursing on diabetes control, and three cancer patients who targeted two patients with breast cancer and one patient with lung cancer. Among the studies examined, one study examined the effect of telenursing on self-confidence among patients with chronic lung blockage and one studied the effect of telenursing on self-efficacy in elderly with hypertension. All studies dealt with nursing interventions, such as training and empowerment as well as follow-up programs on the telephone or mobile and in one case, use of video call, with no medical care provided to the patients. Examining the studies shows that telenursing has been effective in changing the symptoms related to the patients’ health. Hence, telenursing technology can be used in clinical areas to enhance mental health and education as well as promote self-care behaviors. Telenursing is an effective method in nursing performances, such as educational, clinical, psychological, and economical aspects.