Enhanced recovery

Published: 14 November 2012

The Enhanced Recovery (ER) Partnership has engaged with clinicians and patients over the past four years to ensure a clinically driven approach with patient outcomes and experience at its heart.

The nursing contribution to the successful delivery of ER is not to be underestimated, with successful programmes depending on the clinical, communication and leadership skills of nursing staff, working alongside medical and AHP colleagues, to deliver and sustain local ER implementation.

The ER pathway is based on four working principles:

  1. all patients should be on a pathway to enhance their recovery. This enables patients to recover from surgery, treatment, illness and leave hospital sooner by minimising physical and psychological stress responses
  2. patient preparation ensures the patient is in the best possible condition, identifies the risk and commences rehabilitation prior to admission or as soon as possible
  3. proactive patient management components of enhanced recovery are embedded across the entire pathway before, during and after the operation or treatment
  4. patients have an active role and take responsibility for enhancing their recovery.

The sound progress made within the original specialties (colorectal, orthopaedic, urology and gynaecology) is now being developed and the principles of ER are applied to other surgical specialties, emergency surgery and acute medicine.

The partnership is currently working with several royal colleges and associations following their signing of a consensus agreement at the ER Summit in April. It is now developing its endorsement of ER into practical support and alignment of principles within core education and programmes of work for members. The ER Partnership is delighted to be working closely with the RCN leadership to highlight and distinguish the role of nursing’s contribution to enhanced recovery.

For further information and resources visit the enhanced recovery webpages of the NHS improvement website.