Nursing and Health Technology Assessment: a dual endeavor

Introduction: the healthcare systems of both the rich and the developing countries, are discussing three fundamental issues: the socio-demographic changes (connected to demographic, epidemiological and healthcare transitions), the great expectations of consumers, and the constant offer of new technologies. These factors produce a constant increase in demand, which in areas with limited resources is a serious problem affecting the entire system's sustainability. Health Technology Assessment – “the complex and systematic multidisciplinary assessment of healthcare, economic, social and ethical consequences provoked directly or indirectly in the short and long-term by existing healthcare technologies and those newly introduced” (Charter of Trent ) - was created specifically with the objective of giving scientific support to healthcare decision-making processes. Aims: the aim of this work was to briefly present Healthcare Technologies Assessment (HTA) and explore the possible application of such an approach to the nursing field. Materials and methods: through research in the PubMed, CINAHAL and HTA databases, we analyzed the latest works on the evaluation of healthcare technologies in the nursing profession. Results: despite the fact that international literature presents numerous examples of assessments of the practical efficacy of nursing interventions, there are basically very few examples of research based entirely on the HTA process. Conclusions: nursing has advanced greatly over the last years and is trying to develop its own taxonomy regarding nursing diagnosis, results and interventions. Standardization of the nursing language surely facilitates research work on the assessment of the impact of nursing in the various fields of action. The HTA multi-disciplinary approach will surely facilitate the contribution of nurses in n the healthcare technology assessment teams.