Cardiac surgery nurse practitioners
Cardiac surgery nurse practitioners came into post in May
2011. Nurse practitioners are highly skilled nurses who work as
part of the multidisciplinary team to deliver high quality care to
elective and emergency patients receiving cardiac surgery
procedures.
Fully trained nurse practitioners work closely with the
medical team undertaking some of the roles previously performed
solely by junior doctors, in the care and management of patients
from admission to discharge. These include skilled assessments of
patients on admission, attending medical ward rounds, planning of
ongoing care, ordering of appropriate tests, prescribing and
discharge planning.
This role means that the process from admission to
discharge can be smoothly managed by facilitating communication
between the medical, nursing and allied teams. Service development
is key to the role and the practitioners are all working
continuously to improve practice by identifying inefficiencies,
developing policies, procedures and building relationships with
referring hospitals.
