Authors (including presenting author) :
YC KAM(1), CC Tang (2), PY Hui (1), PC Chan (1), HY Chow (1), SH Leung (3), HC To (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Urology nurse clinic, Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Kowloon Central Cluster (KCC) (2) Ambulatory Urology Centre, Kwong Wah Hospital, KCC (3) Family Medicine & Primary Health Care (FM & PHC), KCC
Introduction :
With the support from HAHO, patients who follow up in Urology specialty clinic for overactive bladder (OAB) are stable with anticholinergics can step down to General outpatient clinic (GOPC) or Family Medicine (FM) clinic. A new collaboration is set up between urology nurse clinic and GOPC / FM clinic nurses. This initiative aims to address the needs of patients suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and OAB in primary health care setting. An accurate post-void bladder volume measurement is critical for family medicine practitioners in making treatment decisions for LUTS and OAB patients. This includes determining appropriate prescriptions, such as anticholinergics which is contraindicated to large residual urine volume. Patient education about behavioral modification by nurses can also enhance the clinical outcomes. To ensure effective operation and maintain high standards of quality and safety, the Nurse Consultant in Urology will play a pivotal role in providing comprehensive training in nursing management and bladder scanning techniques to nurses working in FM & PHC setting.
Objectives :
To enhance lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and overactive bladder (OAB) nursing management for nurses in FM & PHC setting.
Methodology :
In June 2024, Nurse Consultant (Urology) KCC/ QEH provided a training program to support LUTS & OAB management in FM & PHC settings. Eighteen nurses from 10 FM & PHC in KCC attended the “Enhancing Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Overactive Bladder management with bladder scanning training program” which includes 2.5 hours lecture & 3 hours bladder scanning practicum. Pre & post quizzes for the lecture and pre & post assessment forms were used for knowledge & bladder scanning skills assessment respectively.
Result & Outcome :
There are totally 18 candidates who joined the pre & post quizzes for the lecture. None of them get full marks. The pre-test mean score = 9.1 (ranges 5-13, SD = 2.31); post-test mean score = 12.9 (ranges 12-14, SD = 0.80). The training program evaluation shows that the nurses have overall statistically significant improvement in the test outcome, based on the Wilcoxon signed rank test (p-value =0.000). No single question (out of the 15 questions) shows statistically significant difference before and after the training by Fisher exact test. The bladder scanning skills assessments were all passed after practicum. Conclusion: The role of a Nurse Consultant in Urology within a primary health care setting is crucial for improving patient care and outcomes with LUTS & OAB. By providing efficient training program to strengthen nurses’ knowledge and best practice, thus to manage patients in community for best resources allocation. It is recommended to explore further training need for FM & PHC nurses to provide behavioral modification for OAB patients better urological outcomes.
