Effects of Intervention by a Nurse Practitioner at an Outpatient Treatment Center
2020 Volume 43 Issue 4 Pages 123-128
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2020 Volume 43 Issue 4 Pages 123-128
Introduction: An outpatient treatment center is used by a number of medical departments, but mainly by internal medicine. It is intended for the examination of patients with a poor physical condition, and for performing different treatments and blood transfusion. The problems faced in the outpatient treatment center are the long stay and wait times for consultations. We examined the effects of assigning a nurse practitioner (NP) to the center.
Methods: We performed a retrospective study at the outpatient treatment center to evaluate the difference in the wait times for a period of 10 months based on patient records before and after assigning the NP.
Results: The total number of patients visiting the outpatient treatment center before assigning the NP was 13,154 and it was 15,257 after. The average number of patients significantly increased per day. On analysis of waiting patients (1,079 before assignment and 1,112 after assignment), although the consultation wait time was not shortened, the stay time was significantly reduced by 10 minutes. For hospitalized patients, the stay time was significantly reduced by 30 minutes.
Conclusion: Assigning a NP to the center significantly shortened the stay time for patients waiting for consultation and for those who were hospitalized. Thus, assigning a NP led to more efficient medical treatment at the center.
