Study Evaluates Whether Nurses Specializing in Rheumatology Affects Patient Outcomes

Rheumatoid patients have extremely sensitive joints and may need unique exercises, protection of their joints, and care of their feet to manage their condition. This is where specialized nurses can help.

One of the biggest challenges in nursing is to provide accurate and informative patient education. This is no different when it comes to someone who has rheumatoid arthritis. Patients who know more about their needs fare better than those who don't.

Nursing care is important to rheumatoid care and overall health

If you're someone who suffers rheumatoid arthritis, you know too well the importance of having a kind and attentive nurse. Having someone who understands the unique needs of your disease can make a huge difference in the comfort you experience during any hospitalization for an acute flare.

Furthermore, if you are someone who needs routine care, it's even more important that your nurse knows your body’s needs and is able to attend to them. One of the most important aspects of rheumatoid care is maintenance and prevention of disease progression. Nurses have a huge role to play in helping patients manage their lives at home with a disease like rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatology nurses are a part of an interdisciplinary health team

From educating the patient about their treatment, to giving them advice on daily functions, to administering specialized treatments or medications, rheumatology nursing is a huge component of the proper management of rheumatoid arthritis. They make up an integral part of the interdisciplinary medical team, and their expertise is a huge asset that helps people manage their condition. Their services have been even more important because there is a worldwide shortage in rheumatologists, so the caregiving and experience of rheumatoid nurses are extremely valuable. Compared to the number of patients who suffer from the condition, there are simply not enough physicians around that specialize in rheumatoid arthritis. That's when nurses step forward to take the lead on many aspects of a rheumatoid patient's care.

Sometimes, we forget that we need to constantly improve nursing care and interventions

Nursing care is often overlooked by many because we are so focused on what new drugs and therapies are available to us. But in reality, it's a key component to someone's well-being if they suffer from a serious condition like rheumatoid arthritis. We cannot afford to forget about the daily ins and outs of routine care, and so it's incredibly important for scientists to study nursing interventions at depth. We need to find out whether we are doing things in a way that benefits our patients, and the only way to do that is to perform careful studies and measure outcomes.

Rheumatology nurses can help rheumatoid patients achieve better overall health and quality of life.

So far, existing studies have found evidence that confirms that rheumatology nurses really benefit the overall health of patients who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. However, there is a need for more studies on an International level that investigate this further to confirm these findings.

Read on to learn more about this study and the importance of nursing in RA care.