title: A study comparing care between nurses and doctors in the French prehospital setting: the case of hypoglycemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study was to compare the quality of care between French nurses and physicians in the prehospital management of hypoglycemic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Response times, concordance with medical protocols/recommendations, quality of medical records, and percentage of hospitalized patients were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 33 patients were treated for hypoglycemia by the nurse group and 41 by the physician group. The groups were similar in terms of response rates (mean time of 00:08 ± 00:06 minutes for nurses and 00:10 ± 00:09 minutes for doctors). For 51 patients not requiring hospitalization, the proportion was similar in each group (47.1% and 52.9% for nurses and doctors, respectively). The nurse group showed significantly higher mean scores for concordance with recommendations (P < .001) and quality of medical records (P = .005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the management of hypoglycemic patients, the quality of care of an emergency ambulance team composed of nurses was comparable to that of doctors.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medical Service (SAMU83), Toulon–La Seyne sur Mer Hospital, Toulon, France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Istria
authors.forename: Galadriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonnel
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: Anne-Claire
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.forename: Sebastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feuerstein
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chabot
authors.forename: Willy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Valliccioni
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sambuc
mesh_terms: D000552:Ambulances / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016529:Emergency Nursing / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010820:Physicians / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies