Journal of accident & emergency medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Should accident and emergency nurses request radiographs? Results of a multicentre evaluation.
To evaluate whether waiting time in accident and emergency (A&E) departments is shortened when experienced nurses request peripheral limb radiographs before a patient is assessed by a doctor. ⋯ 14 min can be saved by getting the patient to see the nurse first; however, because nurses in three out of four hospitals requested more radiological examinations than doctors, overall only 4 min waiting time was saved when peripheral limb radiographs were requested by nurses. The findings are somewhat against expectations but do identify that specific training and constant monitoring is essential if nurses are to request peripheral limb radiographs, as reflected in hospital C results.