The timely, effective and responsive assessment and management of patients using the Patient Advice and Information Lines (PAIL) leads to improved quality of care and patient experience.
Whilst a number of the Patient Advice and Information Line calls are related to clinical concerns, patients, family and carers often talk about other life events that may impact on their treatment and management plan. Clinical Nurse Specialists and Members of the Rheumatology Multidisciplinary team need to be responsive with a wealth of knowledge and experience; they must also be imaginative with a bit of Health Service/ Community Care “common sense” to support these patients through these life events.
Colin Beevor, Matron from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust has used data from previous PAIL calls to develop the “Rheumatoid Arthritis – Game of Life” board game to equip all Clinical Nurse Specialists and members of the team necessary knowledge and skills to manage patients over the telephone.
In this fast-changing era of medicine, the board game offers the opportunity to increase knowledge and stimulate discussion and learning within teams.
Colin Beevor: “The board game has been developed with Lilly UK and was launched at the 2017 Nurse RESPONSE Forum in London on the 23rd December 2017. I had a lot of fun working through the scenarios, which act as practice development tools for those working with people living with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The game also has potential to be further utilised in the education of patients, family and carers and the wider community of primary care team members.”
Alison Kent, Chairperson at the Response Conference: “The community of Clinical Nurse Specialists and members of the multidisciplinary team are very skilled at managing patients, but often there are life events that mean we need to rethink patient management plans. During the three workshops at the conferences the board games were well received by the delegates, and many asked if the board game could be taken back to their own department as a teaching aid.”
Jenny Kynes, Head of Nursing, Musculoskeletal Service Centre, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust: “We are always looking at new ways of providing nurses with education; whilst there may be insufficient evidence in the literature to either confirm or refute the use of such learning, it looks like the board game was received well by the delegates and achieved its main aims, at bringing fun, to increase knowledge and to stimulate discussion around supporting patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.”