The Trust has a number of other Senior Nurses who have specialist roles including Clinical Nurse Leaders and Nurse Practitioners. Specialist Nurses are often required to support Consultants in the delivery of clinics and help other Nurses to develop their clinical skills.
Learn more about what they do:
The combined role of the Breast Care Nurses is to provide support and education to both women and men from the diagnosis of breast cancer and during their treatment. The team consists of three Breast Care Nurse Specialists and one Nurse Practitioner.
The Nurse Practitioner runs a number of Nurse-led clinics. She sees referrals from GPs, follow-up patients and runs a family history clinic where risk assessments for patients with a family history of breast cancer are undertaken.
The two Nurse Specialists work closely with the Trust’s Breast Surgeons and operate breast-screening units to detect breast cancers in patients across the Fylde coast.
The DVT Nurse Practitioner has developed a comprehensive service in the direct treatment of Deep Vein Thrombosis. She sees patients directly for venometer testing, blood tests, history taking and a clinical risk score during one appointment, reducing the need for patients to attend several consultations. The development of a DVT service has taken pressure off the Department of Radiology and has helped to release beds across the Trust.
The primary role of the Gastroenterology Nurse Practitioner is to give advice and support to patients with upper gastrointestinal tract cancers. They work closely with Gastroenterologists, Surgeons, Oncologists, Radiologists and other health professionals to ensure a smooth journey from diagnosis to either potential cure or palliative care. They provide ongoing support to patients, their families, carers and friends and liaises with GPs, District Nurses and the Hospice Team.
The second part of their role is to give advice and support to patients with inflammatory bowel disease. They can provide professional advice about treatments to patients with a worsening of their condition and liaise closely with their GPs.
The Rheumatology Nurse Practitioner plays a vital supporting role to consultants and delivers specialist Rheumatology clinics at hospitals across the Trust. They manage a Rheumatology helpline, which allows the department to offer help and advice to General Practitioners and their Nursing and Therapy colleagues as well as patients and their families. They also provide professional advice to patients and their families.
Respiratory Nurse Specialists see adult patients with a wide variety of respiratory diseases within a ward or clinic setting. They also make educational visits to promote disease management strategies.
An expansion of their service has led to the provision of a pulmonary rehabilitation service at a local gym, plus an assessment and follow-up service of patients on long-term oxygen therapy. They also provide a support network either in person or by telephone for staff, patients and carers.
Heart attacks are one of the leading causes of death in the UK. Following a heart attack, thrombolytic drug therapy is used to break down the clot blocking the coronary artery. It therefore prevents further death of the heart muscle and damage to the heart.
The role of the Thrombolysis Nurses is to facilitate the fast, effective assessment and treatment of patients with chest pain. This includes assessment of their ECG and subsequent initiation of thrombolytic drug where appropriate. It is a Specialist Nursing role which has been developed to ensure that patients receive thrombolytic therapy as quickly as possible when they enter the hospital, ideally within 20 minutes of arrival at the hospital door. The sooner the drug is administered the less myocardial damage will occur. The role also includes teaching of Medical and Nursing staff, audit and protocol development.
Urology Nurse Practitioners are responsible for many Nurse-led clinics across the Trust including prostate assessment, urology review, pre-admission and chemotherapy clinics. They provide clinical leadership for all Nurses on urological issues and audit and review standards in urology care. During clinics and home visits, Urology Nurse Practitioners treat a variety of problems including incontinence, erectile dysfunction and cancer.
