Pioneer transforms nurse clinic into an integrated sanctuary of care

Terri Choi Wing-kam
Advanced Practice Nurse
Tseung Kwan O Hospital

If you or your family member is going to be operated, you will certainly have a lot of anxiety and doubts. It will make a big difference if there is a nurse communicating relevant matters with you closely before, during and after surgery. Terri Choi, an Advanced Practice Nurse, has started to prepare for the establishment of the first nurse-led anaesthetic assessment clinic at The Ambulatory Surgery Centre of Tseung Kwan O Hospital four years ago, strengthening the roles of specialist nurses.

The clinic will involve specialist nurses in the patient flow before the scheduled medical appointment with doctors. These nurses will help conduct a series of body check, assay and assessments and explain the patient flow before, during and after surgery to facilitate patients’ psychological and physical preparations. Development of the clinic has recently reached a mature stage and the clinic is officially renamed Perioperative Care Nurse Clinic which is one of the four specialties in the ‘Integrated Model of Specialist Out‑patient Service through Nurse Clinic’.

With this new model, half of the patients in the clinic need not to meet the anaesthesiologist while they are waiting for an appointment for surgery, so as to help share the workload of anaesthesiologists. Arrangement in the clinic also helps reduce patients’ anxiety about the operation and improve their pre- and postoperative physical conditions.

As one of the pioneers in introducing the integrated model to the nurse clinic, Terri points out that the model has been implemented in Britain for over 20 years although it seems something rather new in Hong Kong. Back then, nurses in the clinic could only be cautious and make steady progress with reference to practices in other countries mentioned in books and journals, while acquiring more knowledge and skills of pre- and postoperative care from anaesthesiologists and surgeons.

Terri makes a humble remark regarding the award, “I believe success is only for those who keep moving forward with time and have the thirst for new skills and knowledge.” She will receive one‑month preoperative evaluation training in local hospitals in Britain in May, where she expects to return to Hong Kong with valuable experiences to share with her colleagues and enhance the quality of perioperative procedures.

Frequently asked questions about surgery

Will patient not wake up after anaesthesia?

Truth: The anaesthesiologist will calculate the dosage before the operation and perform immediate assessment and adjustment during the procedure. Most patients wake up within half an hour after surgery. Moreover, given the high efficacy of anaesthetic drugs nowadays, it will generally cease to affect the patient as soon as the anaesthesiologist stops injecting anaesthetic drugs and that the patient should wake up soon.

Can spinal anaesthesia be performed in any operation?

Truth: Spinal anaesthesia is only suitable when the patient is operated at lower half of the body.