Comparison of Japan nurse practitioner-led care and physician trainee-led care on patients' length of stay in a secondary emergency department: A retrospective study.

This was a retrospective record review, so data accuracy and completeness may be limited by differences in record keeping and possible transcription errors. It came from one Japan nurse practitioner at one hospital, so it may not represent other nurse practitioners or settings. It included only weekday day-shift ambulance arrivals, excluding nights, weekends and holidays. Patients' diseases and severity were not taken into account, and other confounding factors may have been missed. The statistical model explained only 20% of the variation in length of stay. The background and experience of physician trainees and emergency physicians were not measured. The adjusted 6-minute difference was small, and the crude comparison showed no significant relationship.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Do not conclude that Japan nurse practitioner-led care clearly speeds up emergency departments. The adjusted difference was only 6 minutes, the crude analysis showed no significant relationship, and the study came from one nurse practitioner at one weekday day-shift emergency department.