The aim of this project was to assess the impact of Cardiac Clinical Nurse Consultant's (CNC's) on the outcomes of top-end NT remote Aboriginal cardiac patients.
Cardiac CNC's deliver to cardiac patients and their family's education, clinical coordination pre and post cardiac procedures/surgery, post procedural reviews, enabling early recognition and management of post procedural complications and readmissions. Cardiac rehabilitation referral and enrolment is also coordinated.
A retrospective comparison of patients undergoing cardiac procedures/surgery in 2017 and 2018 was completed. To conduct this review information was collected from the Cardiac Expansion Unit data set, NT Cardiac database and Royal Darwin Hospital IT systems.
The Cardiac CNC's have made a substantial impact on the outcomes of Top-End NT remote Aboriginal cardiac patients by improving the coordination of care and patient engagement, which has increased the numbers attending interstate procedures and taking up cardiac rehabilitation. Noticeable reduction in waiting times for the patient going for procedures and initial post-procedural cardiology reviews were identified which has reduced patient morbidity and decreased mortality.