Introduction

An effective coordination to manage nursing care at the hospital level is essential for the service offered to the subjects of care and for the constant improvement of the institution.

Objective

To describe the international literature related to the strengthening of the role of nursing coordination at the hospital level.

Materials and Methods

An integrated literature search was carried out under Ganong parameters with arbitrated publications and six-year observations without geographical limits in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Results

Three categories were identified from the literature search, namely, characteristics of the nurse care coordination role, impact of this coordination on the results for the subject of care, and strategies to enhance the coordination role within the institution. The evidence supporting the development of nurse care coordination at hospitals is poor, most of which are descriptive studies.

Discussion

Nurse care coordination must articulate hospital direction and operation, which requires knowing and supporting institutional guidelines over the medium and longer-term and developing motivation and support strategies to facilitate its achievement.

Conclusions

The nurse care coordinator in a hospital must keep their focus on the daily care of patients as well as support and encourage their staff through leadership skills, teamwork, and clinical/institutional knowledge. To perform their role, the coordinator must promote change and maintain an integrated approach.

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