A satisfaction survey of a nurse led paediatric clinic for hip dysplasia in infants

Summary 

The needs of children are being more widely addressed and with this the use of skilled nurses to actively take on roles to aid clinical care. Nurse led clinics are developing and this paper aims to show its effectiveness to offer an alternative to the medical clinic approach offered to children within a UK District General Hospital environment.

A nurse led clinic was set up in Reading in 1998 to support the orthopaedic consultant in the care of children with hip dysplasia and free valuable medical time for the clinically more complex patients. The service sees approximately 1200 infants per year. A twelve question patient satisfaction survey showed that the nurse led clinic was able to see 80% of infants referred within 2 months, with only 6% waiting longer then 3 months. There was a significant level of acceptance for the service with 100% of participants being either very satisfied (67%) or satisfied (33%). The majority of parents (80%) were completely satisfied with the service and felt nothing more needed to be added.

Keywords: Nurse led, Hip dysplasia, Clinics