Nurse-Led Clinics: Practical Issues

Over the last ten years there has been a huge growth in nurse-led clinics within hospital outpatient departments, general practitioner surgeries and health canters. People are living longer and an increasingly ageing population requires a higher level of support, monitoring and medication which nurses are ideally placed to supply. The government has endorsed the use of such clinics as a way for the public to access specialist health care and treatment more quickly and also as an effective way to manage chronic ill health. However, there is a lack of uniform structure in educational preparation for nurses interested in taking up nurse-led practice and a dearth of literature offering practical guidance.Nurse-Led Clinics: Practice Issuesprovides a much-needed overview of this new arena for nursing and illustrates the key points through chapters written by experienced nurses who have set up and run clinics in their own specialty. Topics covered include: the emergence of the nurse-led clinic,setting up a clinic, public protection issues, nurse education, nurse prescribing and auditing. This will be an invaluable handbook for nurses directly involved in running clinics, for those responsible for the provision of nurse-led services and for nurse educators.