Paediatric ED reattendance rates: comparing nurse practitioners and other clinicians. Issue 5 (5th June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Feetham, Jane E; Christian, Will; Benger, Jonathan R; Hoskins, Rebecca; Odd, David; Lyttle, Mark D
• Is Part Of: Emergency medicine journal. Volume 32:Issue 5(2015)
• Page Start: 379
• Page End: 382
• Publication Date: 2014-06-05
• Subjects: Paediatrics, Paediatric Emergency Medicine -- Emergency Department -- Nursing, Practitioners; Emergency medicine -- Periodicals; 616.02505
• DOI: 10.1136/emermed-2013-203514
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1472-0205

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: The aim of this project is to establish the unplanned reattendance rate for paediatric emergency nurse practitioners (PENPs) working in a designated paediatric emergency department (PED) while identifying the case mix of patients seen by PENPs compared with their medical counterparts. Design: Quantitative data regarding patient characteristics and reattendance were collected during retrospective review of case notes across two representative 2-week periods. Setting: The study site is a tertiary urban PED with an annual attendance of 32 000 patients aged from birth to 15 years. Main outcome measures: Reattendance rates, patient characteristics, triage scores, presenting complaint and numbers of patients discussed with a paediatric emergency medicine consultant were evaluated. Results: The results showed that PENPs have a lower reattendance rate (1.75%) when compared with senior and junior doctors in training (4.29%, 5.76%); however, PENPs treat a different population of children. When the odds of PENP reattendance are adjusted for this, the significance of the difference becomes less certain. Conclusions: PENPs work autonomously when seeing children presenting with minor trauma and make a positive contribution in achieving the reattendance Clinical Quality Indicator.