Wu K, Walker E, Owen G
Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, Lincoln County Hospital, Lincoln, UK.
J Laryngol Otol. 2007 Apr;121(4):378-81. doi: 10.1017/S0022215106003239.
Balancing new referrals with limited clinic capacity is a challenge. At Lincoln County Hospital, referrals for tonsillectomy have been managed by an experienced ENT nurse practitioner, in order to deal with this problem more effectively. We reviewed tonsillectomy referrals made in a one year period to determine if surgical outcomes were satisfactory. Results were compared with figures available from the national prospective tonsillectomy audit.
This was a retrospective study, assessing patients referred to the ENT department at Lincoln County Hospital. We reviewed the number of patients who had proceeded to surgery and the rate of complications.
One hundred and fifty-nine patients had been referred for tonsillectomy over the one year period. One hundred and forty-seven patients had been seen in clinic and 12 had not attended their clinic appointment. Following consultation with the nurse practitioner, 125 patients had proceeded to surgery. Five episodes of bleeding were recorded as complications postoperatively; giving a bleeding complication rate of 4.7 per cent, compared with a rate of 5.7 per cent from the national prospective tonsillectomy audit.
A trained nurse practitioner can safely and effectively facilitate the complete process of managing a routine pre-operative tonsillectomy patient, from primary care referral to arranging admission for surgery.
在新转诊患者增多与诊所容量有限之间取得平衡是一项挑战。在林肯郡医院，扁桃体切除术的转诊由一位经验丰富的耳鼻喉科执业护士负责管理，以便更有效地应对这一问题。我们回顾了一年内扁桃体切除术的转诊情况，以确定手术结果是否令人满意。将结果与全国扁桃体切除术前瞻性审计的可用数据进行了比较。
这是一项回顾性研究，评估转诊至林肯郡医院耳鼻喉科的患者。我们回顾了接受手术的患者数量和并发症发生率。
在一年时间里，有159名患者被转诊进行扁桃体切除术。147名患者在诊所就诊，12名患者未赴约就诊。在与执业护士协商后，125名患者接受了手术。术后记录到5例出血并发症；出血并发症发生率为4.7%，而全国扁桃体切除术前瞻性审计的发生率为5.7%。
一名训练有素的执业护士可以安全有效地推动常规术前扁桃体切除患者从初级保健转诊到安排手术入院的整个管理流程。
