Objective: The conception of the Movement Disorder Nurse program began when the Australian Government and Fight Parkinson’s conducted a scoping evaluation of people living with movement disorders in regional Victoria. It was found that in the Wimmera region of rural Victoria, Australia the prevalence of Parkinson’s and atypical Parkinson’s disease is higher than the national average, thus there was a three-year funded pilot project awarded. This is the first year of the project.
The role of specialist movement disorder nurses (MDNs) is a novel concept in Australia, with numbers being fewer than 100 nationwide. The efficacy and efficiency of MDNs in other countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America has been shown to be overwhelmingly positive to the patient experience and patient outcomes.
Creating a model of care from the ground up for people living rurally, with minimal access to specialist neurologists and even General Practitioners has shown to be challenging. This includes introductions of advanced therapies to hospitals, the MDN project spanning over three individual health services across all care settings, and navigating the health complex health system from diagnosis through to death. However, even if the project’s infancy, there has been immense support and acknowledgement that there has been a significant gap in care for those with movement disorders that is slowly being filled.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-shaky-truth-of-a-movement-disorder-nurse-pilot-program-in-rural-australia/