A qualitative study on the roles and responsibilities of nurse consultants in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study aims to explore the roles and responsibilities of seven newly appointed nurse consultants (NCs) in various clinical specialties in Hong Kong as a pioneer project. Qualitative approaches using direct observation and semi-structured interviews were adopted with two full-day observations on the seven NCs plus 56 semi-structured interviews of NCs, nurses, doctors and patients. Five major NCs' roles and responsibilities had been identified, namely providing expert practice, initiating service development, leading education, guiding continuous quality improvement (CQI) and conducting research and providing evidence-based practice. The seven NCs within this study have by and large achieved building professional excellence, respect and trust within their own spheres. It is strongly recommended that the NC post be formally established in the new Nurses Career Structure to enable expert clinical nurses to develop a clinical career to contribute to service and patient care to its maximum.

An Exploratory Study on Exemplary Practice of Nurse Consultants

“…The results reinforce those of previous studies in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, indicating that NCs are clinical leaders who manage complex cases and contribute to improved patient outcomes related to symptom management, wound healing, chronic disease management, mental health, and recovery from acute illness (Chan et al., ; Kennedy et al., ; Lee et al., ). As in other studies, the NCs led initiatives and achieved quality improvement benchmarks, reduced wait times by increasing access to specialized care, and introduced evidence‐based practices to improve patient recovery (Chan et al., ; Gerrish et al., ).…”

“…() found that the NCs’ work impacted within and beyond clinical settings to also influence healthcare system outcomes by working across disciplines and practice sites, advancing knowledge through research, presenting at national conferences, and engaging in forums that influenced national policy agendas. Similarly, findings from a Hong Kong NC study indicate that NCs manifest their expertise by assessing and treating cases with complex health problems, developing and implementing new clinical services, leading continuous quality improvement, and engaging in research or evidence‐based practice activities (Chan et al., ).…”

Supporting clinical leadership through action: The nurse consultant role

“…Globally, healthcare systems face a myriad of complex challenges, placing clinical leadership firmly in the spotlight. With nurse and therapy consultants occupying the most senior clinical role in the UK healthcare system, the role has been adopted by Australia (Wilkes, Luck, & O'Baugh, ), Hong Kong (Chan et al., ) and Italy (Portoghese et al., ), with a range of leadership roles already existing in the USA (Gantz et al., ). Nevertheless, in spite of its popularity, the role seems to be fraught with ambiguity and lack of clarity.…”

Work-based learning using action learning sets

“…Introduced in the UK in 1999 in an attempt to retain experienced clinical leaders in practice, the role of nurse consultant has, more recently, been adopted widely across the globe (Wilkes et al 2015, Chan et al 2014. In the UK, the role encompasses the four dimensions of clinical practice, leadership, education and research (McSherry et al 2005).…”