7 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R U Y 2 0 1 8
For many trauma patients,
especially those who sustain
more serious injuries, surgery
and hospitalization can be just
the beginning.
At the Grant Outpatient
Trauma Acute Care Surgery
Center in Columbus, Ohio,
nurse practitioners follow up
on every trauma patient to guide them through what can be an
overwhelming set of post-surgical demands.
"Our trauma patients have so many different consultants, we
found that patients were often confused when they left the inpa-
tient setting," says Brian Fletcher, MS, CNP, ACNP, NE-BC, who
helps run the outpatient facility. "They would go home, and they
might have 5 different services that they have to follow up on."
Like most trauma clinics, Grant used to devote a half-day once
a week to patients who'd been treated at the hospital and dis-
charged, but 5 years ago, Grant's trauma clinic began to operate
more like an office. Now, the clinic is staffed by nurse practition-
ers and open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.
"We said that every trauma patient is going to get a follow-up
exam, no matter what," says Mr. Fletcher. "We're going to make
sure they're not having complications, they're not confused and
they don't have new problems that weren't initially diagnosed.
The fact that it's staffed by all nurse practitioners is another
innovative approach." — Jim Burger
A Different Kind of Trauma Management
• ADDED SUPPORT The nurse practitioners at the Grant
Outpatient Trauma Acute Care Surgery Center help make sure
no trauma patients are overlooked after they're discharged.
NEW MODEL
Brian
Fletcher,
MS,
CNP,
ACNP,
NE-BC
