Workload analysis for clinical nurse specialists working in breast screening

To accurately evaluate the role of the clinical nurse specialists (CNS) in breast screening assessment clinics, baseline information regarding patient throughput and interactions with the CNS were required.

Following every screening assessment clinic in the West Midlands, each CNS in attendance completes a short audit form that covers the number of women attending the clinic, the number seen by the CNS, for those not seen the reason for this, and the time the CNS arrived and left the clinic.

For the period April 2004-March 2005 an average of seven women attended each assessment clinic (range: 3–14). The average time spent in the clinic was 2:31 hours (range: 0:10–9 hours). Seventy-six per cent (4,515/5,951) of women attending had contact with a CNS (range: 18–100%). Of the 1,436 women who did not have contact with a CNS, reasons were given for 1,403. The main reasons were that the CNS was occupied with another patient (44%) or it was patient choice (37%).

From research into patient satisfaction with the CNS, it is known that, for women attending for assessment, interaction with a CNS is perceived to be highly beneficial. Managers should try to ensure that sufficient CNSs are available to give all women attending for assessment the opportunity to see a CNS.