BMJ 1998;317:1316 ( 7 November )

Letters

Satisfaction with nurse specialists in breast care clinics

    Nurse led clinics may actually cost more
    Nurses are not as effective as consultants
    Authors' reply

Nurse led clinics may actually cost more

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---Garvican et al conclude that since the results of the fine needle aspiration obtained by clinical nurse specialists in their breast clinic were better than those obtained by other clinicians the nurses' clinical expertise compared favourably with that of other clinicians.1 In a recent four month survey of fine needle aspiration cytology in our unit, 86 (20%) of 432 aspirates were classed as inadequate (C1). This is significantly lower than the rate of 276 (33.5%) of 825 samples (P<0.0001) classed as inadequate in Garvican et al's paper. Two thirds of the aspirations of palpable lesions in Edinburgh were performed by consultants; their rate of inadequate samples was 38/233 (16%). This is significantly lower than the 114 (32%) of 362 samples taken by the nurses that were classed as inadequate (P<0.0001). The nurse specialists performed 362 (44%) of 825 aspirations in their clinic; in Edinburgh non-consultant clinicians performed 35 (28%) of 124 (P=0.012). These results confirm that the . . . [Full text of this article]
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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Dey, P., Bundred, N., Gibbs, A., Hopwood, P., Baildam, A., Boggis, C., James, M., Knox, F., Leidecker, V., Woodman, C., Dixon, J M. (2002). Costs and benefits of a one stop clinic compared with a dedicated breast clinic: randomised controlled trial * Commentary: one stop clinics should not be abandoned. BMJ 324: 507-507 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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