Development and evaluation of the critical care practitioner role

This article evaluates the establishment and development of the critical care practitioner (CCP) role from 1995 to 1998. The hypothesis was that clinical decisions made by CCPs, for the defined patient group, would result in clinical outcomes and resource usage comparable to those currently experienced. The CCP initiative aimed to provide high quality patient care by expediting the process of making appropriate and timely decisions in the management of routine postoperative cardiac patients. To aid the development and evaluation of the CCP role, data on clinical measures, use of staff time and staff attitudes were collected at baseline, and then at nine months and two years nine months following introduction of the role. The evaluation demonstrated that the introduction of the CCP caused no deterioration in clinical outcomes; there were definite changes in the type of tasks carried out.