Can accident and emergency nurse practitioners interpret radiographs? A multicentre study

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Emergency Medicine
• Nursing Practice

Background:

• Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments frequently manage distal limb injuries.
• Radiograph interpretation is a crucial skill for timely diagnosis and treatment.
• Assessing the competency of non-physician healthcare providers in radiograph interpretation is essential for optimizing patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of nurse practitioners (NPs) in interpreting distal limb radiographs.
• To compare the performance of NPs with that of senior house officers (SHOs) in radiograph interpretation.
• To determine if NPs working in minor injury units achieve comparable interpretation skills to SHOs.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving NPs and SHOs across 13 A&E departments and minor injury units.
• Participants reviewed 20 distal limb radiographs, each accompanied by clinical history and examination findings.
• Interpretation accuracy was scored by comparing subject responses against an agreed-upon standard.

Main Results:

• NPs generally performed favorably when compared to SHOs in radiograph interpretation.
• NPs integrated into minor injury units, interpreting radiographs as part of their role, demonstrated performance equivalent to experienced SHOs.
• The study indicates a high level of competency among NPs in this diagnostic task.

Conclusions:

• Nurse practitioners in A&E settings possess the capability to interpret distal limb radiographs to a standard comparable to SHOs with 3-5 months of experience.
• NPs actively engaged in radiograph interpretation within minor injury units achieve a standard equivalent to SHOs with over 5 months of experience.
• This suggests that NPs can effectively contribute to radiographic interpretation services, enhancing efficiency in emergency care settings.