Congress Abstracts 2006

63

SATURDAY CLINIC: AN ALTERNATIVE FOR MEETING PATIENTS' NEEDS. Kathleen Shannon-McAdams, RN, MSN, ANP-C, GNP-C, Natasha McClure, RN, BSN, OCN^®, and Eulivia Austria, RN, BS, OCN^®, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.

Ambulatory care is a rapidly increasing practice in which the delivery of care is led by the registered nurse and Nurse Practitioners. Ambulatory care nursing has evolved into a specialty whose practice setting emphasizes health promotion, disease prevention, and patient satisfaction.

Our patient population receives aggressive chemotherapy treatments that require close out patient monitoring of their nadir and other related side effects. Our patients may need to be sent to the emergency room (ER) on weekends for lab review, fluid/electrolyte replacements, blood transfusions, and/or fever. Most patients sent to the ER for lab review and symptom management over the weekend complained of extended wait times and gaps in appointments. Patients complained of long non-ending days in the outpatient hospital areas. They voiced a need for clinics to conform and be more accommodating to their needs.

A team of clinic nurses met to discuss these service needs to improve our patient care. We formed a Saturday Fast Track Clinic to provide swift assessment and evaluation followed by simple, but much needed interventions.

In the Saturday fast track patients' electrolytes are evaluated and quickly replaced, blood or platelets are secured, and fevers are evaluated. A patient laughing called this clinic "one stop shopping".

We are currently experiencing a threefold effect. First, patient satisfaction has increased tremendously because patients are assessed and evaluated within fifteen minutes. Secondly, providing this service on Saturday decants the emergency room of non-urgent patients, allowing more capacity for the acutely ill patient. Thirdly, Saturday Clinic improves quality of life by providing continuity of care and allowing patients to spend less time in the hospital.

Oncology nurses are directly responsible for providing management of patient's physical and emotional needs. Development of this fast track shows a strong sense of patient care. This presentation will cover the development, design, and outcomes of this project.