Articles of Interest to Telehealth Nurses
© from the Nursing Standard Online
Aim: To develop and evaluate a nurse-led telemedicine service over a six-month period, linking the senior citizens of a rural village with the town-based general practice.
Method: Patients, doctors and nurses were asked to complete a questionnaire following video-link sessions. Interviews were also carried out at home with patients, while interviews with nurses and doctors took place in the workplace.
Results: Of the 173 consultations with villagers aged over 65, 29 (17 per cent) were conducted by video-link. All those who used this service were sent questionnaires and 18 were returned (62 per cent). Seven of the patients who had received one video-link consultation were interviewed in their homes. All of the patients initially found the video consultation experience strange. Generally, patients found the nurses to have a pivotal role in explaining the service and interpreting their needs. All those interviewed said they would use the service again. The GPs spoke favourably of the service and said that it had saved them time. The nurses involved were positive about the service. Negative comments generally related to technology, for example picture and sound quality.
Conclusion: All involved in the nurse-led telemedicine service viewed it favourably and patients said that they would use it again.
Telemedicine in rural care. Part 2: assessing the wider issues
http://www.nursing-standard.co.uk/archives/vol15-33/pdfs/p3337w33.pdf
Background: The first article about this development (Macduff et al 2001) described the evolution of a nurse-led telemedicine service in the village of Hamlet (population 1,600), north-east Scotland, and presented the findings of an evaluation study. In this second article, those findings are discussed in relation to the wider picture of nursing involvement in teleconsultation. The village has no medical practice or pharmacy and the majority of Hamlet’s residents aged over 65 are registered with the Bradieslea Road surgery, one of three general practices six miles away in the town of Bradieslea. The community nursing service is based in small rooms at a sheltered housing complex in the village. This service covers all patients in the Hamlet area. It is staffed by one full-time district nurse/health visitor (who acts as team leader) and one part-time district nurse. Both are qualified nurse prescribers.
Conclusion: Opportunities now exist for nurses to use teleconsultation for the benefit of their patients. A systematic development of this type of nursing role through integration with broader service development would be valuable.
Resource Alert:
TELEMENTAL HEALTH: Delivering Mental Health Care at a Distance A Summary Report
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