Evaluation of nursing performance in a social security program

Hospital Rural IMSS-Prospera, Tamazunchale, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. 2 Facultad de Enfermería, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Conflicts of interest: none to declare. Abstract Objective: To evaluate nursing performance in the control of diabetic outpatients of the IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social [Mexican Social Security Institute])-Prospera hospital number 44 in Tamazunchale, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Methods: This quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study consisted of a sample of 30 nurses recruited from August 2014 to April 2015. A performance observation guide that evaluated administrative, care, teaching, and communication functions was used. Performance was classified as good, fair, and poor by means of descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 93.3% of the sample consisted of female certified nurse assistants, 70% with studies at the technician level. The overall measurements of the administrative, care, teaching, and communication functions indicated that 6.7% presented good performance, 40% fair performance, and 53.3% poor performance. Conclusion: Care and teaching functions show significant opportunities for improving patient self-care. Nursing performance evaluation provides evidence for the management of services in the diabetes program.