A comparative study of patients who did not wait for treatment and those treated by Emergency Nurse Practitioners

Background: Two Emergency Nurse Practitioner candidates commenced their roles in the Emergency Department and Trauma Centre at the Alfred Hospital in July 2004. Methods: The prospective study identified two groups: those who did not wait for treatment (following initial triage assessment and urgency category allocation) and those who were treated by Nurse Practitioner candidates. The aim of the study was to examine the characteristics in each group and compare data. Results: The Nurse Practitioner candidates treated 344 patients during the 2 months examined while 374 patients did not wait for treatment in the same period. No statistical differences were found in gender, age or triage category between the two groups. Over 90% of those treated by the Nurse Practitioner candidates were Australasian Triage Scale categories 4 and 5 with one-third presenting with musculoskeletal related problems and one-third with wounds and lacerations. Nearly 80% (n = 269) of patients treated by the Nurse Practitioner candidates presented between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. while their mean treatment time was 100 min. Patients who did not wait usually presented between 6 p.m. and midnight, waiting an average of 2 h before leaving the emergency department. Conclusions: Nurse Practitioner candidates have seen a significant number of patients since their commencement in the role with the majority treated being Australasian Triage Scale categories 4 and 5. Mean treatment times for patients who were treated by the Nurse Practitioner candidates were less than the average length of stay before leaving for those who did not wait for treatment.