Surgery
Surgical Nurse Practitioners
Karen Boudou and Helen Dugan have been working in
this new role which focuses on general surgical patients
admitted through the Unscheduled Care route.
Karen and Helen work alongside the On Call Surgical
Team and endeavour to improve the efficiency of the
patient journey through the Emergency Pathway.
Their expertise as senior surgical nurses allows them to
assist with a variety of issues which is particularly useful
for patients in outlying areas.
This has been an exciting year for Endoscopy in the Ulster Hospital with the introduction of several
new therapeutic endoscopy procedures.
The first to be introduced was 'Spyglass'. This is an extension of our Endoscopic Retrograde
Cholangio-Pancreatography (ERCP) procedure whereby we are able to directly visualise the biliary
tree endoscopically as well as fluoroscopically.
The benefit of this procedure is in relation to those difficult cases where there is either a biliary
stricture or stones preventing the completion of the ERCP procedure. Previously in these cases
the patient would have to have repeated procedures to alleviate their symptoms.
The second new procedure we introduced was 'Full Thickness Resection (FTR)' which allows for
the removal of large lesions from the gastro intestinal tract using a specialised clipping/removal
device fitted to the end of the endoscope.
This now provides the surgeons with an alternative to surgical resection particularly for those
patients who would be regarded as poor candidates
for surgery.
For both these procedures, the Endoscopy
Team received extensive training and are now
established procedures within the Unit.
These new innovations encourage nurses to
research and improve their knowledge and at the
same time keep their roles interesting and
challenging.
Congratulations to our two new Nurse Endoscopists,
(pictured left to right) Alex Willis and Nicola Halliwell,
who are now operating independently and helping to
run our Endoscopy Service smoothly.
Endoscopy Department
(L to R) Helen Dugan and Karen Boudou.
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