The mobile diagnostic van offers communities in the mid and far north services closer to homes for people and without them needing to visit a hospital.
The mobile diagnostic van offers communities in the mid and far north services closer to homes for people and without them needing to visit a hospital.
In a New Zealand first, a mobile nurse-led vascular service from Whangārei Hospital hit the road last month, offering a two-day clinic in Kaitāia.
Established last year, the service helped alleviate pressure on the visiting consultant clinic which is only offered once a fortnight in Whangārei.
Once up and running, the team wanted to take the service out into the region, closer to people at home.
“One of the challenges we had was ensuring that we could take the specialised equipment in the mobile diagnostic van,” clinical nurse specialist Karen Devine said.
“We consulted with the manufacturers to check that the machine wouldn’t be adversely affected by vibration and asked if they would give us sign-off to transport it.”
With sign-off secured, the nurses travelled to Kaitāia to offer clinics and parked in front of the whare at Kaitāia Hospital.
“We saw eight people over the two days offering routine assessments, and if we needed treatment advice, we connected with the vascular service nurse practitioner in Auckland for advice,” Devine said.
“Everyone we saw was extremely grateful and appreciative that they didn’t have to travel to Whangārei for what would have been a 15-minute appointment with the consultant. Our clinic has freed up consultants’ time for more urgent patients. Putting the patient in front of the right person, at the right time, in the right location.”
Clinical nurse specialist vascular Robyn Martinovich undertaking an assessment in Kaitāia on Te Pahi O Ngā Iwi (The People’s Bus), a mobile diagnostic van.
The nurse specialists in the Auckland Vascular Service have advanced clinical assessment skills, enabling a clinical decision to be made in conjunction with the patient, their whānau, and the vascular team using the information the nurses have gathered.
“The feedback from the Northland patients, whānau and the wider team has been positive, and I look forward to seeing what else they can achieve in the future,” said nurse practitioner Alicia Sutton.
“The nurse-led service is patient-centric and allows patients to be seen closer to home, which is improving equity in health in rural Northland.”
Another positive aspect of the service is the train-the-trainer component, developed after community partners such as Ngāti Hine Health Trust and Hauora Hokianga provided feedback.
“Colleagues in the rural communities asked for a better connection with the service, particularly a point of contact they could reach out to,” Devine said.
“We have focused on increasing their knowledge of vascular conditions, how to recognise them and what to do when they come across them because they’re out there doing the work, not us.”
The education has proven beneficial time and time again.
Recently, a registered nurse working in rural Hokianga asked for support for a vascular patient who had presented with leg ulcers.
“We tried a few things, staying in touch every day, and in a short amount of time, his wound, which he had had for more than two years, healed,” Devine said.
“The gentleman was in the hospital recently for an unrelated matter, so I popped up to visit him. He couldn’t speak highly enough of the nurses who had cared for him in Rawene; ‘they have changed my life’ he said.”
The role of a vascular specialist nurse extends far beyond simple dressings for unhealed ulcers or wounds. They form the bridge between the patient (usually with chronic ongoing or recurrent disease) and the rest of the clinical team.
The nurse-led clinics have seen 130 patients to date and are confirming locations and clinic times for the rest of the year to expand the range of vascular services available closer to home in Te Tai Tokerau.
