Why is it important?
Being admitted to hospital with Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis can be a very worrying time.
This anxiety can be reduced when patients, carers and families feel able to raise issues or concerns that are important to them. But that’s hard when multiple teams and clinicians are involved in care and decision-making processes during an inpatient admission. This complexity can make communication difficult.
That’s why having access to an IBD Nurse Specialist is so important at this time. It can help give patients better continuity of care and improved coordination, as well as education and support for them and their families/carers.
In fact, evidence suggests that a patient’s length of hospital stay may be reduced by the involvement of an IBD Nurse Specialist in care and follow-up. Patients also feel more supported to go home with a clear understanding about what will happen next during the transition between inpatient and outpatient care.