Evaluation of advanced neonatal nurse practitioners: confidential enquiry into the management of sentinel cases.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the quality of the neonatal care delivered by an advanced neonatal nurse practitioner led service at Ashington Hospital, Northumberland.


METHODS
Maternity service with no resident paediatric medical input.


METHODS
Comparison of quality measures on sentinel cases with five comparator hospitals using modified confidential enquiry.


RESULTS
On six out of seven dimensions, the neonatal nurse practitioner service performed better than the average of the five comparator hospitals, and overall ranked second.


CONCLUSIONS
Good quality neonatal care can be delivered by advanced neonatal nurse practitioners alone, without the support of resident junior paediatricians.
Ward Platt
M P
MP
Wansbeck Hospital, Ashington, Northumberland, UK. m.p.ward-platt@ncl.ac.uk
Brown
K
K
D002983:Clinical Competence; D004739:England; D006771:Hospitals, Maternity; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000592:standards*; D010372:Pediatrics; D011786:Quality Control