Should nurses be allowed to request X-rays in an accident & emergency department?
A prospective study was carried out during the month of November, 1990 in the A&E Department, St John's Hospital, Livingston in order to assess the extended role of the A&E nurse and their ability to request X-rays prior to patients being seen by a doctor. A total of 579 randomly selected patients were triaged by A&E Department nurses. Almost 3/4 of these patients were X-rayed at the request of the triage nurse. Less than 7% of these X-rays were considered to have been unnecessary by the doctor who subsequently managed the patient. Of those patients who had an X-ray after seeing a doctor, more than 90% fell within the X-ray triage criteria but had not had an X-ray requested by the triage nurse. Overall, nurses were shown to request X-rays correctly and efficiently with the result that patients had to spend less time in the A&E Department.
Macleod
A J
AJ
Department of Accident and Emergency, St John's Hospital, Howden, Livingstone, West Lothian.
Freeland
P
P
D002983:Clinical Competence; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011859:Radiography; D012380:Role; D012606:Scotland; D014218:Triage