FINAL BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 2019

School of Nursing and Midwifery Scoil an Altranais agus an Chnáimhseachais

Discrepancies in Recording of Comfort Scores between Nurses and Endoscopists in the Mercy University Hospital Author(s) A.Carroll, M. Lucey, C. Judge, M. Buckley, J. McCarthy , H. Zaid ,

Department of Gastroenterology, Mercy University Hospital

Affiliation(s) Hull University UK

Abstract Background:  Patient comfort during endoscopy is a quality control measure in endoscopy performance.  The Modified Gloucester Comfort Scale is used to assess discomfort experienced by patients undergoing colonoscopies.  This is a scale from one to five with one being indicative of no discomfort and five being indicative of severe discomfort.  National guidelines recommend that the comfort score should be assessed by a 3rd party (usually the endoscopy nurse) and the score agreed with the endoscopist before recording in the final report. Aim:  This audit was performed retrospectively to assess the accuracy of recording of comfort scores between the nurse and the endoscopist Methods:  The most recent 110 colonoscopies recorded on EndoRAAD were included in the audit.  This number is representative of colonoscopies performed by different endoscopists across specialties and grades in the endoscopy department.  Endoscopists were not aware of the data collection prior to procedures.  Comfort scores were recorded by the nurse for the procedure and recorded in the nursing records. The endoscopist was informed of the comfort score and then recorded it on the colonoscopy report. Results:  The average nursing score was 2.35  The average endoscopist score was 2.26.  54.6% of all colonoscopies had equal recording of comfort scores between the nurse and endoscopist with an average comfort score of 2.42 Conclusion: It should be brought the attention of all endoscopists and nurses in the endoscopy department that documented final nursing comfort scores should be relayed to the endoscopist prior to the patient being brought out to recovery.

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