The purpose of this thesis was to examine, based on data, what kind of ambulatory care meets the needs of the patients of today and what kind of professional competence is needed in ambulatory care nursing. The aim was to produce information to support the development of elective ambulatory care in the hospital of Hyvinkää. This thesis was carried out as a part of primary and special health care SAMOS-project in Hyvinkää.

The research method used in this study was a descriptive literature review. The research data was collected both from the electronic databases Medic, Cinahl and Emerald electronical databases as well as manually. For the final analysis 22 sources were chosen and their contents were analyzed from both inductive and deductive perspectives.

The literature review shows that ambulatory care services should be patient-oriented, coherent and cost-effective. To reach that goal, must patient-oriented and coherent treatment processes work properly, as well as co-operation between primary healthcare and social welfare. Adding more electronic service possibilities and the use of technology, are seen as important parts of future's ambulatory care action, from both the patients and orginazations point of view. With expertise, management based on knowledge and systematic development, it is possible to improve the orginazation's competitiveness and performance.

In ambulatory care nursing, professional competence on clinical care, interactions and co-operation is needed, in both working with the patients and multi-professional teamwork. Readiness to teach and guide are essential in ambulatory care as well as the ability to work independently and make decisions. Knowledge on managing fast situations and coordinating patients follow-ups are also required.

Data from this thesis gives directions on developing elective ambulatory care and enables anticipation of what kind of ambulatory care nursing competence is needed.