Aligning the planets: The role of nurses in the care of patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction.
Christi Deaton, Rachel Johnson, Maggie Evans and 6 others
PMID 28078099WHAT IT FOUND
Nurses described their role as bridging gaps between departments and finding hidden high-risk patients across the hospital.
However, they reported that mandatory data collection often took precedence over direct patient care, leaving them frustrated by the trade-off between paperwork and clinical contact.
Key findings
01Nurses frequently acted as liaisons between emergency departments and cardiology to resolve conflicts and coordinate patient transfers.
02A major task involved physically searching the hospital for patients with elevated troponin levels who had not been identified by ward staff.
03Nurses reported that data collection for audit and quality improvement often overwhelmed their capacity to spend time with patients.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study did not collect data on patient outcomes, so it cannot determine if the nursing roles described actually improved survival or recovery. The analysis was secondary, meaning the data was not originally collected to specifically explore nurse roles, which may have limited the depth of questioning on this topic. The findings are from 10 hospitals in England and Wales and may not be transferable to other healthcare systems or settings.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research in the UK. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this study as evidence that specialist nurse roles improve patient outcomes. The researchers explicitly state they had no data on the effect of these roles on patient outcomes. The paper describes the nurses' experiences and workload, not their clinical effectiveness.