A new nurse-led wax clinic has been opened in the Outpatients Department at Letterkenny University Hospital.
Staff nurse, Bridgene Bonner introduced the new clinic this month following specialised training in London and at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital Dublin. The clinic runs under supervision from Prof Nash Patil, Consultant ENT Surgeon from Sligo University Hospital as part of the satellite ENT Outpatient Service for Donegal.
Bridgene Bonner described her work in the ENT Clinics and said, “During the Wax Clinic I perform micro-suction of the ears which is a non-invasive method of treating impacted wax and otitis externa, a condition that causes inflammation of the external ear canal.
“In 2017 I attended a course on ear care and micro-suctioning and since then I have been working on further developing my skills in this area. Under the guidance and with support of the ENT consultants, I developed a policy to introduce a standalone Wax Clinic which was initially due to start in early 2020 but was put on hold because of the pandemic.
“The work I do in the Wax Clinic would previously have been carried out by the doctors in the ENT Clinic which means that I am able to free up their time for more complex clinical care. I have been able to work with many long term patients who come in for micro-suction and a lovely part of the job is seeing how they have been getting on especially the improvements from their first visit.
“This new nurse-led clinic will take place once a month and I will treat 8 to 10 patients in each clinic. When I am not running my own session, I work in the ENT Outpatient Clinic supporting patients through the Department, booking their procedures, managing files and reports and providing information to newly diagnosed patients, including post-op patients attending the department.
“Last year I completed a postgraduate certificate in ENT skills covering the management of patients suffering from aural; nasal/paranasal; and throat, neck and oral cavity disorders. The course was a collaboration between the National Clinical Programme in Surgery, the RCSI ENT education programme in primary care and the RCSI School of Nursing and Midwifery. I have now commenced a postgraduate diploma in ENT with the RCSI and look forward to continuing to develop my skills for the benefit of the patients we see in the ENT Outpatient Clinic.”
