What is a nurse-led service? A discussion paper

The terms ‘nurse-led service’ and ‘nurse-led care’ are often used, but are frequently not well defined. As health care delivery evolves across the world and struggles to cope with changes in medical care and with the rising number of people living longer with long term conditions, it is frequently suggested that more care should be delivered and coordinated by nurses who have the most day-to-day contact with affected individuals and their families. This paper addresses the notion of modern ‘nurse-led’ care in the 21st century, with a focus on haemophilia. Haemophilia is one specialty in which totally nurse-led and delivered care could become a reality, there is already evidence from both developing and developed countries of nurses providing excellent and innovative haemophilia care.