Background: Despite a lack of service provision for people with osteoarthritis (OA), each year 1 in 5 of the general\npopulation consults a GP about a musculoskeletal condition such as OA. Consequently this may provide an opportunity\nfor practice nurses to take an active role in helping patients manage their condition. A nurse led clinic for supporting\npatients with OA was developed for the MOSAICS study investigating how to implement the NICE 2014 OA Guideline\ncore recommendations. This paper has two main objectives, firstly to provide an overview of the nurse-led OA clinic,\nand secondly to describe the development, key learning objectives, content and impact of the training to support its\ndelivery.\nMethods: A training programme was developed and delivered to provide practice nurses with the knowledge and skill\nset needed to run the nurse-led OA clinic. The impact of the training programme on knowledge, confidence and OA\nmanagement was evaluated using case report forms and pre and post training questionnaires.\nResults: The pre-training questionnaire identified a gap between what practice nurses feel they can do and what they\nshould be doing in line with NICE OA guidelines. Evaluation of the training suggests that it enabled practice nurses to\nfeel more knowledgeable and confident in supporting patients to manage their OA and this was reflected in the clinical\nmanagement patients received in the nurse-led OA clinics.\nConclusions: A significant gap between what is recommended and what practice nurses feel they can currently provide\nin terms of OA management was evident. The development of a nurse training programme goes some way to develop\na system in primary care for delivering the core recommendations by NICE.
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