Results of a national survey of IBD nurses reported barriers and facilitators towards providing care to patients with microscopic colitis

Objective The authors developed a survey to understand the barriers and facilitators that might be present in providing care for patients with microscopic colitis (MC) in existing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) nurse-led services. Methods A survey was developed using Google Forms to collect anonymous responses from IBD nurses across all four nations of the UK. Twitter and the IBD Royal College of Nurses IBD network Facebook page and email group were used to disseminate the survey. Analyses were carried out using descriptive statistics. Results Of the n=102, responses received showed that 89.2% (n=91) consider MC when they see patients with watery diarrhoea. No training had been received about MC by 58.8% (n=60) of the n=102, while 52% (n=53) of the same cohort felt they had enough knowledge/confidence to manage a patient diagnosed with microscopic colitis. Conclusions The survey results also indicate an interest among the IBD nursing community in MC and a desire to learn more about MC to support patients living with this condition.