Clinical guidelines for a headache clinic at AUBMC -

Abstract

Headache disorders are among the most common disorders of the nervous system. They affect people from ages, races and ethnic groups. According to the International Classification of Headache Disorders III (2013), headaches are classified as primary, secondary or other types of headache. In general the global prevalence of headache is 46percent.The most common types of primary headaches are tension-type headache (42percent), migraine (11percent), cluster headache (1percent) and chronic daily headache (3percent).The different types of headache can lead to the inability of people to work or reduce their effectiveness, which may increase anxiety and impede their quality of life. The management of headache disorders is challenging, time consuming, needs a lot of support and one to one education. Thus, a specialized care through a headache clinic needed to be provided for those patients in order to improve their quality of life. Therefore, establishing a multidisciplinary treatment program or a comprehensive care for headache in outpatient’s setting at AUBMC will help in optimizing the care. In such multidisciplinary programs different disciplines work and collaborate among each other in order to provide holistic care. Within the multidisciplinary team, the role of the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) is significant in coordinating the work between all disciplines in order to enhance the care. The proposed clinic at AUBMC involves members of nursing, medical and allied professionals. When admitted to the headache clinic, the patient will be assessed by the clinical nurse specialist and the clinician using specialized tools. The diagnoses and the treatment will be provided based on evidenced based clinical guidelines. Education pamphlets along with a headache diary will be provided to each patient. A plan of care will be developed for each patient and a follow-up process will be arranged by the clinical nurse specialist.