Authors (including presenting author) :
Man KL, Chang MY, Leung SM, Chan PK
Affiliation :
Department of Neurosurgery, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong SAR
Introduction :
A comprehensive specialty nurse service for neurosurgical patient aims to optimize and well prepare patient for surgery under the rapid growth of advancement in neurosurgery. The service also targets to facilitate patient / family to have a smooth transition from hospital to home or other facilities in consultation with the interdisciplinary team members. Hence, preparing patient/ family and building rapport with them should be started in early plan of surgery. For both beneficial effects, a good patient preparation and education is to optimize clinical outcomes so as to decrease medical burden and post-operative burden to patient / family. Moreover, a patient-centred care approach is applied to provide a comprehensive nursing service to enhance the quality of patient care and extension of nursing role to free up neurosurgeons for other advanced tasks. The neurosurgical nurse clinic has been established since October 2022 in the pandemic period of coronavirus disease.
Objectives :
To evaluate the effectiveness of neurosurgical nurse clinics
Methodology :
This survey utilized quantitative measures. Data were gathered through patient and staff satisfaction surveys, as well as an analysis of hospital records to assess the average length of stay for neurosurgical patients before and after the implementation of nurse -led clinics. Patient satisfaction was assessed using a standardized survey distributed to individuals who received care at the neurosurgical nurse clinic within a six month period. The survey asked patients to rate their overall satisfaction with the care provided, empowerment of patient / family, understanding of the pre & post operative nursing care and clinic service. Staff satisfaction was measured through an anonymous survey distributed to neurosurgical nurses who worked in ward. The survey evaluated factors such as referral system, diminishing ward follow up activities, alleviating the workload of ward staff, well prepared patient before admission and promoting early discharge. To determine the impact on length of stay, hospital administrative data were collected to compare average inpatient durations for neurosurgical cases before and after the introduction of the nurse clinic.
Result & Outcome :
Patient survey achieved >98% of the overall satisfaction rate in 2022, 2023 & 2024. Staff survey achieved >95% of the satisfaction rate in all aspect of the exercise in 2023. The average of length of stay reduced in 1.2days in 2023.
