Registered Nurse-Led Visits in Ambulatory Specialty Care Clinic: Implementation Process Review

Registered Nurse (RN)-led visits are increasingly utilized in ambulatory care. However, little information is available about implementation and sustainability for RN-led visits. Patients experienced difficulties accessing care in an ambulatory neurosurgery specialty care clinic. This article presents the implementation process and sustained success of RN-led visits over more than a 25-year time span in this neurosurgery specialty ambulatory care clinic. The number of operating room (OR) cases by a single neurosurgeon was increased by an average of 95 cases per year over a 5-year implementation time frame, growing from an average of 211 cases per year (2000-2004) to 306 (2005-2009), and sustained at this average with 309 cases in the 2020-2024 period. The sustained increased OR caseload over a 20-year time-period suggests RN-led visits can be an effective strategy to promote the entire ambulatory care team working at the top of their scope of practice. Further research is needed on economic impacts of RN-led visits, patient access wait times, and team satisfaction.