Nurses must increase care role

NURSES need to be more involved in the care of surgical patients to help reduce cancellations and speed up recovery times.

That’s according to the Irish Anaesthetic and Recovery Nurses Association whose sixth annual conference takes place this weekend in Waterford and will be addressed by Health Minister Mary Harney.

The association wants more involvement for nurse practitioners and more nurse-led clinics, to make the pre-surgery and post-surgery process more efficient for patients.

“The model of practice in Ireland doesn’t lend itself to this at the moment. It’s more prevalent in Britain and in Europe,” said IARNA president Fionuala O’Gorman yesterday.

The current Health Service Executive recruitment freeze is “worrying” for members, according to Ms O’Gorman.

Unlike unions such as the INO, PNAI and SIPTU which negotiate pay and conditions for Irish nurses, the IARNA is an education and advancement organisation aimed at improving surgical care for patients.

“One area we are looking at is nurse-led clinics, pre-assessment of surgical patients so that, if a patient comes in for surgery, their whole work-up is already done. That would reduce cancellations.”

More involvement for nurses will lead to better care for patients, said the IARNA president. “It’s changing, but it’s changing quite slowly.”

Ms Harney will address delegates at tomorrow’s conference in the Tower Hotel, Waterford, during a morning debate chaired by Waterford Regional Hospital director of nursing Lila Kelly.

IARNA assistant conference co-ordinator Lorraine Murphy said that one of the important contributions of the association is to assist the HSE, clinicians and other organisations to develop a “learning culture”. “This is achieved through the ongoing exchange and dissemination of knowledge, experiences and practices,” said Ms Murphy, who is based in the Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Unit of the HSE for the South East Hospital Network.

WRH director of nursing Lila Kelly said the conference would allow “common concerns” to be addressed, “and an educational component provided, to the benefit of all concerned with the delivery and development of health services”.