Nurse‐led intermediate care: an opportunity to develop enhanced roles for nurses?*

Abstract

NLUs provide opportunities for nurses to develop enhanced roles in which they can work autonomously in providing elements of therapeutic nursing aimed at improving patient outcomes at discharge. However, education, training and leadership will be needed to ensure that such opportunities are well understood and are optimized to the benefit of nurses and their patients.

Economic evaluation of nurse led intermediate care versus standard care for post-acute medical patients: cost minimisation analysis of data from a randomised controlled trial

“…Finally, increased efficiency might be possible through education of staff on the ideal model of care delivery. Currently a high grade (more expensive) mix of skill seems to substitute for such education, but without improving quality of nursing above that in standard care settings 13 14. Training would require additional investment, but could prove cost effective if the mix of skills could be altered or outcomes improved in the nurse led unit.…”

Critical care nursing research priorities in Hong Kong

“…Although nurse-led clinics are now operating in Hong Kong in areas such as continence, diabetic, long-term, and maternity care (Lee 2001), the possibility of implementing nurse-led clinics in critical care has not been explored. Nurse-led clinics may also provide opportunities for nurses to develop enhanced roles in which they can practice autonomously and provide elements of therapeutic nursing that may improve patient outcomes at discharge (Wiles et al 2001). Nurse-led clinics may also provide opportunities for nurses to develop enhanced roles in which they can practice autonomously and provide elements of therapeutic nursing that may improve patient outcomes at discharge (Wiles et al 2001).…”

Involving older people in intermediate care

“…Another common element in the literature appears to be that such services will have an interest in supporting patients’ and families’ access to other support, while also seeking as far as possible to achieve therapeutic goals (see for example Weir 2002). Many intermediate care services are nurse‐led (Wiles et al. 2001, 2003, Griffiths, 2002) and, while this paper is not specifically concerned with such provision, the contribution of nurses to intermediate care will be considered.…”

“…Nurses are key providers of intermediate care, often in nurse‐led environments (Griffiths 2002) and therefore intermediate care provides an opportunity for them to develop advanced roles (Wiles et al. 2001), and to work in multidiciplinary contexts (Jiwa et al.…”

“…2002). However, nurses have different perceptions of intermediate care with junior nurses seeing this as low status work and senior nurses seeing this as an opportunity to extend roles into medical practice (Wiles et al. 2001).…”