脳神経内科医師がParkinson病ナースに期待すること

抄録

Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder manifesting not only motor symptoms but also variety of non–motor symptoms. Patients with PD suffer from side effects of anti–PD drugs and from complications such as falls and aspiration pneumonia during the disease course. We also need to take care of the environment surrounding the patients, such as nursing care condition, rehabilitation, and financial status. Recently, the importance of PD nurses has been recognized especially since the introduction of levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel therapy, which requires comprehensive care involving multiple professions and various professions involved in nursing care. According to the guidelines for PD nurses, the role of the PD nurse is to perform a basic assessment of the patient and caregivers in terms of medical, physical, mental, and social aspects, to develop a patient–centered treatment plan based on the results of the assessment, to implement care based on the developed treatment plan, and to provide support to the patient and caregivers. The first PD nurse started working in 1989 in the UK, and in 1997 in Netherlands. In Japan, the Japanese Society for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders has been leading a nationwide training program to train PD nurses on a regular basis since 2016 ; however, the PD nurse system has yet to be widely adopted. In this article, I will describe the role that physicians expect PD nurses to play and the desirable PD nurse system, focusing on the experience at my own facility.