Nurses improve door to needle time

Thrombolysis started by nurses improves door to needle time and may be a way in which the national service framework targets can be achieved. Qasim and colleagues (p 1328) conducted an audit of a three phase study of nurse involvement in thrombolysis of patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction. In phase 1 patients were seen and treated by doctors; in phase 2 they were assessed by nurses and treated by doctors; and in phase 3 they were assessed and could be treated by a coronary care thrombolysis nurse. In phase 3 patients had a median door to needle time of 15 minutes, and 80% were treated within 30 minutes. There were no cases in which a nurse initiated thrombolysis inappropriately.

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Relevant Article

Quality improvement report: Safety and efficacy of nurse initiated thrombolysis in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Asif Qasim, Kerry Malpass, Daniel J O'Gorman, and Mary E Heber
BMJ 2002 324: 1328-1331. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]