Telenursing in hospice palliative care: an innovative program in B.C. (Week 7)

Artifact: "Telenursing in hospice palliative care": an innovative program in B.C.

While researching the different ways that electronic health care is used in clinical practice settings, I found an interesting article that discusses an innovative telenursing program for patients in palliative care. In the last months and weeks of life many terminally ill Canadians choose to be at home and are cared for my their family and friends, with possible additional supports from nurses (Roberts, Tayler, MacCormack, & Barwich, 2007). However, for these patients and  their families there are few health care services that are accessible in the evening and through the night. In order to provide better access to services with palliative patients and their families B.C. NurseLine (a teletriage and health information call center), the British Columbia Ministry of Health, and the Fraser Health Hospice Palliative Care Program collaborated to create an innovative after hours telenursing service specific to palliative care (Roberts, Tayler, MacCormack, & Barwich, 2007).
When patients are admitted in the telenursing program they are given a special number to call if they are in need of health care services between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. When patients or their family call, they are connected to an RN who can provide them with information and support (Roberts, Tayler, MacCormack, & Barwich, 2007). If the callers require more specialized knowledge related to palliative care the RN can contact an on call PRN, who will then contact the caller and provide the necessary support. Furthermore, the PRN can contact an on call physician to seek further advice or new orders.
Feedback from patients who have used the telenursing service suggest that the service is effective in providing support to palliative patients and their families. Data from the programs indicate that the service helps to keep patients at home through the night rather than going to an emergency department;  91% of callers reported that they were able to stay home through the night with the support of the telenurses(Roberts, Tayler, MacCormack, & Barwich, 2007). Other benefits of the program have been identified as improved symptom management and enhanced support of caregivers(Roberts, Tayler, MacCormack, & Barwich, 2007).
The effectiveness of this telenursing program suggest that it would be beneficial to create similar programs in other Canadian provinces.

Reference

Roberts,D., Tayler, C., MacCormack, D., & Barwich, D. (2007). Telenursing in hospice palliative care.

     The Canadian Nurse, 103(5), 24-7. Retrieved from http://www.canadian-nurse.com/