A note from Nicola McQueen
"We hope by sharing this information it can inspire other centres across the UK to invest in services like ours to improve experiences of people with Parkinson’s being admitted to hospital. "
My name is Nicola McQueen and I work as a Parkinson’s Nurse at Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge. I work alongside Pamela Bontuyan Gonzales, who is my fellow Parkinson’s Nurse, and Claire Rudwick who is the Deep Brain Stimulation Specialist Nurse. We all work closely together and with the wider Parkinson’s team which includes Neurologists, Consultant Geriatricians and Neurosurgeons.
Myself and Pamela work full time and are employed predominantly for people with Parkinson’s who are admitted to Addenbrookes hospital. We cover Monday - Saturday and review people with Parkinson’s on admission in the emergency department and on the inpatient wards to provide specialist advice from the onset. We are alerted of all people with Parkinson’s admitted to Addenbrookes via our hospital computer system to ensure timely review.
We all work in collaboration with ward medical teams, therapists, social workers, and other healthcare professionals in the hospital, to ensure comprehensive and coordinated care for people admitted with Parkinson’s.
One of the most rewarding aspects of being a Parkinson’s Specialist Nurse is the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients living with Parkinson's disease while admitted to hospital. Being able to provide care, support, and guidance to individuals and their families during a challenging time can be immensely fulfilling.
Our Parkinson’s inpatient Specialist role includes, but is not limited to:
Medication reviews to ensure all people with Parkinson’s are prescribed the correct medications at the correct timings. On admission, we ensure prompt and accurate prescription of Parkinson’s medications to prevent any missed or late doses;
Clinical assessment and management; We review all patients admitted to Addenbrookes and conduct thorough assessments evaluating motor and non-motor symptoms and medication efficacy;
Providing support to the multidisciplinary team. We collaborate closely with ward staff, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and discharge planning teams to address holistic needs and maximise functional independence;
Educating and supporting staff to care for people with Parkinson’s effectively. We raise awareness of Parkinson’s and the symptoms that can be part of the condition to all staff members. Our education includes our ward champions who have extra training on the management of Parkinson’s in an inpatient setting.
A large part of our role is ensuring people with Parkinson’s get their Parkinson’s medications on time, every time. We advocate for adherence to medication schedules through initiatives like the ‘get it on time’ campaign, ensuring all Parkinson’s medications are administered promptly and consistently. We also use tools and resources to support this such as:
We have an excellent computer system in the hospital in which all documentation is stored on. This computer system shows information such as reason for admission, medications prescribed and blood pressure etc.
This computer system also allows us to see who is admitted with Parkinson’s in the hospital and at what exact times their medications are being given at. This helps us to identify any late or missed doses of Parkinson’s medications and we can then investigate this and support the area in which this took place.
We educate all staff of the importance of why we give Parkinson’s medications on time if there are any missed or late doses and we also carry out regular teaching sessions for all staff across the hospital on the importance of Parkinson’s medications
We ensure all people with Parkinson’s admitted to Addenbrookes are provided with a ‘get it on time clock’ on their bedside locker. This is a laminated clock face which is provided by Parkinson’s UK and the timings of each individual's medications can be marked on the clock. This acts as a prompt and reminder to ward staff to give Parkinson’s medications at individual timings as marked on the clock
We also have 8 emergency Parkinson’s medication cupboards throughout the hospital. This is to ensure the staff have 24 hour access to Parkinson’s medications should the person admitted with Parkinson’s forget to bring their own medications in with them. It also helps prevent missed and late doses.
As Specialist Nurses we tend to work in ‘office hours’, however outwith these hours we have a Neurology Doctor who can provide advice for people admitted with Parkinson’s. We also have guidelines that can be used out of hours to explain the management of Parkinson’s and our recommendations should someone be unable to take their medications orally for any reason
Our Pharmacy colleagues are also well versed in the importance of Parkinson’s medications and will prioritise reviewing people with Parkinson’s on admission
We have a self-administration of medication policy in which we encourage and support people with Parkinson’s (and without) to self-administer their own medications while in hospital. If they are happy to do so
Ward champions
We are fortunate to provide Parkinson’s ward champions on our inpatient wards. Our champions are a mixture of Nurses, Therapists, Health Care Support Workers and Pharmacists who have extra knowledge around Parkinson’s.
The champions are provided with extra training and education around Parkinson’s as a whole and we encourage our champions to advocate for anyone with Parkinson’s admitted to their ward.
Our Champions educate fellow staff in their team on the importance of medication timings and Parkinson’s symptoms in general and support with any projects to improve the experience of people with Parkinson’s in the inpatient setting. They can also completed ward based audits to ensure get it on time clocks are in place.
On discharge
When people with Parkinson’s are discharged from Addenbrookes, we communicate with their community Parkinson’s Nurse to inform them of the admission to hospital and to ensure a follow up appointment is in place with the team.
Overall, being a Parkinson's Specialist Nurse at Addenbrookes Hospital offers the opportunity to combine clinical expertise with compassion, advocacy, and a commitment to improving the lives of people with Parkinson’s and their families. We help to reduce length of stay for people with Parkinson’s and we are continually reviewing our service and implementing new ideas to improve patient experience overall.
We hope by sharing this information it can inspire other centres across the UK to invest in services like ours to improve experiences of people with Parkinson’s being admitted to hospital.