The feasibility of nursing patients with sickle cell crisis at home

The most common symptom of sickle cell disease is the vaso-occlusive crisis, which studies have shown is generally poorly managed. This study aimed to assess whether nursing intervention in crisis management could facilitate movement of the pain care environment from hospital to the home. Studies have highlighted that patients want this type of service provision, and 90% of cases currently try to remain within the home when in crisis (Elander and Midence, 1997), despite the poor support of primary care services. Thirty-six subjects were part of the experimental arm of this study. The results demonstrated that it was feasible to manage the majority of non-complicated crises within the home, but suggest that to do this would necessitate an increase in current primary care input into this patient group, especially of community and specialist haemoglobinopathy nurses