The effectiveness of emergency nurse practitioner service in the management of patients presenting to rural hospitals with chest pain: a multisite prospective longitudinal nested cohort study.

Background: Health reforms in service improvement have included the use of nurse practitioners. In rural emergency departments, nurse practitioners work to the full scope of their expanded role across all patient acuities including those presenting with undifferentiated chest pain. Currently, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the effectiveness of emergency nurse practitioner service in rural emergency departments.

Review article: Diagnostic accuracy of risk stratification tools for patients with chest pain in the rural emergency department: A systematic review.

Risk stratification tools for patients presenting to rural EDs with undifferentiated chest pain enable early definitive treatment in high-risk patients. This systematic review compares the most commonly used risk stratification tools used to predict the risk of major adverse cardiac event (MACE) for patients presenting to rural EDs with chest pain. A comprehensive search of MEDLINE and Embase for studies published between January 2011 and January 2015 was undertaken.

Effectiveness of an emergency nurse practitioner service for adults presenting to rural hospitals with chest pain: protocol for a multicentre, longitudinal nested cohort study.

Introduction: Chest pain is common in emergency department (ED) patients and represents a considerable burden for rural health services. Health services reforms to improve access to care need appropriately skilled and supported clinicians in the delivery of safe and effective care, including the use of emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs). Despite increasing use of ENPs, little is known about the safety and quality of the service in the rural ED context.

Retrospective observational study of patients who present to Australian rural emergency departments with undifferentiated chest pain.

Objective: To identify the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who present to Australian rural emergency departments (EDs) with chest pain.

Design: Retrospective, observational study.

Setting: Rural EDs in Queensland, Australia.