The June issue of Nursing Notes from Johnson & Johnson focuses on how nurses help patients who are battling chronic diseases. Nurses who care for people living with chronic diseases get to spend more time with their patients, unlike an acute care nurse who may see a patient for one shift or just a few days. Chronic disease nurses have an opportunity to build stronger relationships and devote more time to patient education. It’s a specialty field that future nurse candidates may wish to consider. Here are some things to know about helping to manage chronic disease as a nurse. Chronic disease nurses generally provide care in a variety of settings – from physicians’ office to dialysis units to schools – not just the hospital. As a chronic care nurse you also likely will treat everyone from infants to the elderly, making it one of nursing’s most diverse specialty fields. Unlike an oncology nurse, for example, who works strictly with cancer patients, chronic disease nurses work with patients afflicted with a wide variety of diseases and conditions, whether that’s pediatric or adult nephrology, diabetes, or other long-term conditions. And, within one condition, such as kidney disease, treatment may extend from anemia or metabolic bone disease to managing cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease.
