The global
challenges of Human Resources for Health and advances in technology, biomedical
science and Leadership paradigms means that we must work differently.
The
challenge for Nigeria is that it does not have a Medical and Dental Council
that regulates the profession and regulates not only education but practice
too.
We share
what the Royal College of Surgeons thinks about using advanced skilled nurses
to assist doctors in filling the HRH gaps: READ ON
'Nurse
practitioners can ‘transform’ surgical departments
10 AUGUST,
2017
The
introduction of advanced nurse practitioners has “transformed” some surgical departments
in the UK, according to a report, which also recommended developing the
extended theatre team to enhance continuity of care and patient safety.
The report,
published by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, has made a number of
critical recommendations to government to greatly improve safety in surgical
treatment and patient care.
“In some
specialties, such as urology, experienced nurses can provide frontline urgent
clinics”
RCSED report
The college
surveyed from a cross-section of the UK surgical workforce which highlighted
broad inefficiencies on the frontline that impact on the working environment
and delivery of a safe service. Among the 505 respondents – mostly consultants
and doctors – were 11 surgical nurse practitioners.
The report –
titled Improving the working environment for safe surgical care –
warned that “already extremely stressful” working environments were being
“compounded” by issues such as a lack of team structure and poor communication.
It also
found staff felt diverted from patient-centred care by administrative and IT
demands, and that being “more innovative and efficient with existing resources
could make a positive difference”.
Among the
report’s seven key recommendations was to “streamline and reorganise” workload
to prioritise core clinical duties and create an “integrated multi-disciplinary
surgical team”.
Systems and
staff could be organised more efficiently to allow doctors to dedicate the
maximum amount of time to the most relevant clinical responsibilities most
relevant to their grade, it said.
Where
appropriate, consideration should be given to developing the extended surgical
team to enhance the continuity and delivery of safe surgical care, added the
report.
It
highlighted that the introduction of advanced surgical nurse practitioners had
“transformed some departments”.
“This is a
team effort and action needs to involve everyone in the team”
Report
authors
This was
because they offered “continuity of care to patients, a knowledge of how a unit
functions and runs on a day-to-day basis, and in-depth knowledge of unit protocols
for the management of specific conditions”, said the report.
“Moreover,
they can help protect time for training by sharing on-call responsibilities
with some of the more junior members of the team,” stated the report.
“While such
persons require additional funding, those units who have invested in them have
reaped rewards in improved efficiency, patient care and trainee support,” it
said.
“In some
specialties, such as urology, experienced nurses can provide frontline urgent
clinics, thereby reducing admissions and workload for trainee doctors,” it
added.
The report’s
co-authors, Mr Simon Paterson-Brown and Mr Richard McGregor, said: “With the
immense financial strain and staffing problems facing the NHS, it is essential
we look seriously at how we can improve the whole working environment for all
those delivering frontline surgical care.
“This is a
team effort and action needs to involve everyone in the team,” they said.
“While lack of additional resources is clearly one of the problems, it is also about
much better use of current resources and changing how we do things to become
more efficient and more productive.''
Africa Center for Clin Gov Research &
Patient Safety
@ HRI West Africa
Group - HRI WA
Consultants in
Clinical Governance Implementation
Publisher: Health and
Medical Journals
8 Amaku Street Housing
Estate, Calabar
Cross River State, Nigeria
Cross River State, Nigeria
Phone No. +234 (0) 8063600642
No comments:
Post a comment