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Nurse-led clinics at Sidra Medicine have largely shown positive impact on patient outcomes, satisfaction, and have improved access to care.
Nurse-led clinics offer continuity and patient-centred care, complimenting the multidisciplinary care team including physician, dietician and other allied health providers, said Judy Dawson-Jones, Chief Nursing Officer at Sidra Medicine.
Sidra Medicine has 12 nurse-led clinics, which record over 300 patients per month.
According to Dawson-Jones, nurse-led clinics at Sidra Medicine offer patients different types of follow-up, training and expert advice throughout their disease course. Nurse-led clinics are run by nurses who are experienced and well-trained in their speciality, working independently and safely within their scope of practice.
“A nurse-led clinic has focus on health and wellbeing of the patient with emphasis on management of the condition, rather than the diagnosis,” she told The Peninsula. “Nurse-led clinics provide the opportunity to use expert scarce resources in a more efficient way,” she added.
There are two types of nurse-led clinics in Sidra Medicine: non-intervention and intervention clinics.
The non-intervention clinics provide an educative role to patients to promote health, monitor the patient’s condition, contribute with additional value in the overall treatment and care, and provide motivational approaches with children with chronic illness.
While the interventional clinics perform nursing interventions and provide trainings in care and maintenance of gastrostomy tube, tracheostomy tube, wound stoma and dressings, insulin pump therapy, and administration of vaccine. Nurse-led Outpatient Pediatric Infusion Center (OPIC) is a 7-bed nurse-led unit serving all paediatric specialties within Sidra Medicine. The unit has 4,000 visits per year, administering IV infusions, and injections. Other areas where nurse-led clinics have been successful are the gastroenterology and endocrinology clinics.
“The nursing team triage and schedule all patients, liaising with inpatient units, specialty physicians and support services to ensure safety and provide a positive experience for all,” said Dawson-Jones.
“The OPC hosts a variety of nurse-led clinics which give the family an extra opportunity to visit a clinical role to ensure the care is moving in the right direction.”
The Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health at Sidra Medicine is comprised of over 1,700 highly-skilled and dedicated health care providers.
Through mentorship programmes, training and shared leadership, nurses are being provided an opportunity to grow as professionals and become effective leaders.
