The effect of nurse practitioner practice in home care on emergency department visits for homebound older adult patients: an exploratory pilot study.

The impact of nurse practitioners (NPs) in home care on emergency department (ED) usage in Canada has not been documented in the literature. This article discusses the potential impact of care provided by NPs on ED use for home care patients in Canada. The authors used a 2-group prospective design for this pilot study to compare the number of ED visits in home care patients followed by NPs (intervention group, n = 30) with those receiving usual care and not followed by NPs (control group, n = 9).