Understanding the role of nurse practitioners in Canada.

The practice of medicine and nursing continues to evolve as a result of changes in knowledge, technology and health care needs. New areas of specialization have developed and, in particular, the roles and duties of registered nurses have been expanded. This expansion has enabled nurses with advanced education and skills to function as independent and interdependent clinicians who practise in partnership with physicians and other health care professionals.

Reliability of vital signs measured at triage.

Objective: To determine the reliability of vital signs measured at triage in the emergency department.

Methods: The vital signs of all consenting ambulatory patients 16 years old and above presenting at triage were measured by the duty triage nurse as standard practice and then repeated by a single, blinded, trained observer within 2 min of the initial assessment using the same (manual or electronic) methods. The results were analysed using paired sample t-tests.