Impact of the advanced nurse practitioner role on frail elderly care.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What impact has a specilaist care of the elderly Advanced Nurse Practitioner led secondary care early assessment service had on frail older patients' outcomes in comparison to a traditional acute mecical doctor led service?
IRAS ID
167180
Contact name
Jayne Cutter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
ABMU - HB
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
A specialist Care of the Elderly Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) led early assessment service has been developed in response to the increasing number of frail elderly patients being admitted into hospital. The focus of the service is in
a Clinical Decision Unit based within a district general hospital in South Wales. A cost neutral approach was applied to develop the service through the use of existing resource from a well established Advanced Nurse Practitioner Team.
Research suggests that early engagement of clinical specialists in the care of frail older patients who present with multi-faceted, complex needs, results in improved functional outcomes, reduced length of stay and reduced readmission rates (Harari, 2007). Similar services have been developed across the United Kingdom. The key difference being is that they are led by Medical Consultants (Harari, 2007; Adams, 2002).The study is a research study using secondary routine data to address the primary research question:
Do outcomes differ in frail older patients managed by a Care of the Elderly Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) led secondary care assessment service compared to a traditional acute medical doctor led service?
The aims of the research being:
1. To provide an objective review of the service delivered to the frail older patient admitted to hospital and,
2. Evaluate the impact of an advanced nurse practitioner led early engagement service for frail older patients compared to the traditional secondary care service.
In short, the primary outcome measure is to evaluate the service provided to the frail older patient in relation to: length of stay, re-admission rates within 28 days or less, mortality, discharge destination, functional and cognitive outcomes including level of frailty, nutritional status, continence, pain and pharmacology.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0943
Date of REC Opinion
30 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion