Reducing health disparities for low decile children and families: a nurse-led response

Reducing health disparities for children living in deprived areas has been difficult to achieve. This paper describes the implementation of a nurse-led, child-specific clinic within a general practice setting to improve health outcomes for high needs Maori/Pacific Island and NZDep96 quintile groups 4 and 5 children and their whanau/families.

The medical centre that implemented the clinic had a high number of enrolled children with chronic and recurrent morbidities. Children frequently did not attend clinic appointments, and there was high use of after-hours services.

An outcome audit after 18 months demonstrated a significant (>30%) reduction in eczema severity, daily irritability, and daily occurrence of pain. Post-intervention fewer children were hospitalised and there was a 50% reduction in antibiotic use.

The aim of the nurse-led clinic was to improve health gains, facilitate morbidity control of chronic conditions, and to offer prevention strategies to promote wellness for the target population. The reduction of morbidity severity by 10% was measured with specific morbidity scoring systems for eczema, constipation and nocturnal enuresis. Other outcome indicators measured vomiting/reflux, wheezing/coughing, constipation/soiling, irritability, sleep disturbances, hospital admissions, and antibiotic use.

Nurse-led clinics facilitated by nurses with advanced skills can reduce health disparities for the target population. The amount of time the nurse is able to spend with the child and whanau/family, and the provision of opportunistic assessments as required, has effected positive change in those children most in need.