Community nurses: an urgent need.

When families could not manage to care for the sick, they turned to people who could provide home nursing care. Gradually, however, the sick were moved to institutions and nursing became institution-based. This trend accelerated in almost all countries around the world. Today we see that nurses participate in curative functions, and are concerned with uncommon and/or complex diseases. Very few nurses work in the community to provide services such as illness prevention, encouraging and supporting communities and individuals to participate in their own health care, health promotion and maintenance, and assisting with rehabilitation that address the health needs outside of institutions aimed towards achieving an optimal quality of life.