784 Advanced Nurse Practitioners Benefit Patient Care and Flow in an Elective Surgical Hub During Recovery From the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs) have an independent scope of practice in patient care. ANPs were introduced to an elective surgical hub during the COVID-19 pandemic in a similar capacity to senior house officers. We examined the impact of ANPs on patient care as viewed from healthcare professionals and patients, and in facilitating timely discharge to maintain flow.

We constructed two separate questionnaires, one for healthcare professionals (HCPs) and one for patients. We compared the time to completion of discharge summary, adjusted for patient volume, before and after ANPs were introduced to the ward to determine patient flow.

We received 27 responses from HCPs: 18 doctors, 7 nurses and 2 allied health professionals. Average score for overall impact on patient care was 9.2 out of 10. We received 9 responses from patients, of which 6 responded having never met ANPs during their care. Of the 3 responses, average score for overall impact on patient care was 5 out of 5. After ANPs were introduced, discharge summaries had an average completion time of 12:56, which was 6 minutes later than before their introduction (t-test, p = ns). We found that there were more admissions before the introduction of ANPs (25 before, 58 after), indicating a maintenance of flow despite increased workload.

ANPs in this elective surgical hub form an integral part of the team who can carry out the majority of ward-based tasks independently. Despite more than double patient volume, flow was maintained. Further work is needed to increase their recognition amongst patients.