Urological community nursing: a new concept in the delivery of urological care.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the impact of a urological community nursing service on the mode of practice, efficiency, and quality of care in a urological practice.


METHODS
A urological community nurse was appointed to investigate the possibility of performing various urological procedures in the community rather than in hospital, with a prospective audit of the results for a period of 1 year. The setting was a busy urological unit serving a mixed urban and rural catchment area of 300,000 people. The outcome was assessed by the number and type of procedures successfully transferred from hospital to community practice.


RESULTS
In 1 year, 464 urological episodes were performed in the patients' homes which otherwise would have required transfer or admission to hospital for treatment or, in some cases, a cancelled operation. These episodes included tuition in clean intermittent self-catheterization and dilatation, changes and insertions of urethral, suprapubic and nephrostomy catheters, bladder instillations to treat cancer and interstitial cystitis, voiding trials with no catheter, urosheath fittings, and pre-operative visits and follow-up visits to avoid attendance at the clinic.


CONCLUSIONS
The urological community nursing service transferred a significant number of routine urological procedures from hospital to community with considerable financial savings and improvement in the quality and efficiency of urological care.
Grose
K
K
Department of Urology, Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport, UK.
Brooman
P J
PJ
O'Reilly
P H
PH
D000283:Administration, Intravesical; D017028:Caregivers; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012648:Self Care; D014525:Urethral Stricture / Q000451:nursing; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D014546:Urinary Catheterization; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000451:nursing*