Health-related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease: a comparison of patients receiving nurse-led versus conventional follow-up care.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), consisting of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a chronic disorder with a considerable negative impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). During the past decade, IBD nurse specialists have been increasingly involved in follow-up care of IBD outpatients, in a consultative and coordinating role, closely cooperating with gastroenterologists. Whether patients' HRQoL differs between nurses' follow-up care (NF) and conventional follow-up care (CF) has not been widely researched and the aim of this study was to compare two different follow-up regimes with respect to patients' HRQoL. METHODS: This cross-sectional, multicenter study involved seven centers; five organized as CF, two as NF. RESULTS: A total of 304 patients aged 18-80 years, 174 females and 130 males, were included, of whom 140 received care under the NF model and 164 under the CF model. Participants in the NF group had a statistically significant higher median total score on the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) (p-value < .001). This pattern could also be seen in the sub-scores of the different IBDQ domains. Despite a trend of higher IBDQ score in all domains in the NF model, the overall result in our study did not reach the limit of 16 points, defined as clinically significant. A higher proportion of NF patients had IBDQ scores defined as remission, as well as a statistically significant higher frequency of outpatient check-ups during a two-year follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Nurse-led models are not inferior to conventional models with regards to patient reported HRQoL except in the social domain where the model showed to be clinically significant better. Further studies are needed to advance efforts to implement these models and increase access to IBD care.

Public health nursing and interprofessional collaboration in Norwegian municipalities: a questionnaire study.

The purpose of this study was to examine collaboration relating to public health nursing in different sized Norwegian municipalities. It sought to gain insight into factors that are important for successful collaboration, frequency of meeting points for collaborating activities and missing professionals in different sized municipalities. A cross-sectional e-post questionnaire study was carried out on a national sample of public health nurses and their collaborators. A total of 849 public health nurses (43.64%), 113 doctors at clinics and school health services (54.8%), 519 child protection workers (16.34%) and 115 midwives (41.3%) returned the questionnaire. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Analysis of variance (anova), Kruskal-Wallis H and chi-square tests were used to tests differences between groups. Trust, respect and collaborative competence were ranked highest by all the respondents and formalised structures, economy and leadership ranked least important in collaborative activity. The majority of the respondents stated that they do not have fewer meeting points compared with 5 years ago. Collaboration with mental health services was missed most by all respondents. There were associations between frequency of meeting points and statements on collaboration related to municipality size. Norway is in the throes of a major coordination reform. The fact that relational factors were deemed most important for successful collaboration is an important finding at a time when focus is on structural change. The findings indicate the need for further in depth qualitative studies on reasons for 'missing collaborators,' on professional cultures in different sized municipalities and on interpersonal relationships. Qualitative enquiry is necessary to gain a greater understanding of how relational concepts of respect, trust and conflict are understood by municipal public health professionals.