N-ECCO survey results of nursing practice in caring for patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis in Europe

Abstract

This survey has provided an understanding of the nursing role in the care of patients with IBD across Europe as well as Australia, Canada and Israel. It demonstrates that the role of nurses in IBD exists in various settings within hospital care, providing complex management and autonomous nursing care in a range of services to a significant number of patients with IBD.

Medical staff tend to underestimate the quality of life in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease

“…Physicians assumed the patient's QoL through biochemical tests, endoscopy, imaging studies, disease‐specific composite scores and short conversations in the clinic. In Korea, IBD nurses have access to patients’ medical information and usually assess patients’ QoL by communicating with them or their parents for a longer time than the physicians . However, their role may vary in other countries.…”

Assessment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patient's Needs and Problems from a Nursing Perspective

“…In 2012, 192 European nurses who attended the N-ECCO Meeting and School participated in a survey that consisted of 11 questions about the role and responsibility of nurses in the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease [12]. This study reported that most nurses (75%) assessed patients over the telephone, 32% in research, 43% within the endoscopy unit, and 45% assessed patients in wards.…”

“…This study reported that most nurses (75%) assessed patients over the telephone, 32% in research, 43% within the endoscopy unit, and 45% assessed patients in wards. More than eighty percent (82%) of nurses provided telephone contact for patients, 81% coordinated patients' therapies and of this, 63% also directly administered these therapies, 22% performed endoscopic procedures, and 70% were involved in providing patient education [12]. …”

“…In 2011, they developed the N-ECCO Consensus Statements [11], a consensus on the standard of minimum care that patients with IBD might expect, irrespective of the level of nurse training, title, or country. Caring for IBD patients might include different tasks for different settings such as performing case management, educating patients and following up medication adherence and symptoms management, supporting patients, and helping them in developing self-management strategies [12]. …”

Identification of Research Priorities for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Nursing in Europe: a Nurses-European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation Delphi Survey

“…However there remains wide variation in the role in terms of autonomy, education and experience, with many nurses placing experiential learning above that of an academic qualification 4 , meaning that few may have experience in research or have a recognised specialised or research qualification. Yet the changing demands of IBD in terms of complex treatment algorithms places the IBD nurse at the centre of care to ensure patient needs are met, and there is an ongoing requirement to deliver high quality evidence-based care.…”