Abstract
OBJECTIVE—To evaluate the effect of nurse initiated thrombolysis on door to needle time (the interval between arriving at the hospital and starting thrombolytic treatment) in patients with acute myocardial infarction. DESIGN—Comparison of door to needle times before and after the employment of nurses trained and approved to initiate thrombolysis without prescription by a doctor but with a protocol for rapid triage of patients with chest pain. SETTING—A district general hospital. SUBJECTS—All patients admitted with suspected myocardial infarction between April 1995 and March 1999. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES—Speed (door to needle time) and appropriateness of administration of thrombolytic drugs to patients with acute myocardial infarction who gave a characteristic history and had appropriate criteria on the admission ECG. RESULTS—During seven periods (each of four months) before the introduction of nurse initiated thrombolysis and a new chest pain triage protocol, the median door to needle time varied from 50-58 minutes. In four periods (each of 4-6 months) following the introduction of the changes, the median door to needle time was 25-30 minutes. The improvement was significant (p < 0.001). Nurses trained to initiate thrombolysis currently provide cover for 66% of the time. Median door to needle time for nurses was 15 minutes. Median door to needle time for junior doctors improved to 35 minutes. The median door to needle times when nurses initiated thrombolysis was significantly shorter than when doctors did so (p < 0.001). There have been no inappropriate management decisions by nurses approved to initiate thrombolysis. CONCLUSIONS—The use of nurse initiated thrombolysis has resulted in a clinically important reduction in the time taken for thrombolysis to be started in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Keywords: thrombolysis; acute myocardial infarction; door to needle time
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (94.8 KB).
Figure 1 .
Door to needle times for cases of unequivocal myocardial infarct on admission during the seven audit periods before and the four audit periods after introduction of nurse initiated thrombolysis and a chest pain triage trolley.
Figure 2 .
Comparison of door to needle times for nurse and doctor initiated thrombolysis for cases of unequivocal myocardial infarct on admission during the period October to December 1998.
Appendix
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- De Bono D. P., Hopkins A. The management of acute myocardial infarction: guidelines and audit standards. Report of a workshop of the Joint Audit Committee of the British Cardiac Society and the Royal College of Physicians. J R Coll Physicians Lond. 1994 Jul-Aug;28(4):312–317. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pell A. C., Miller H. C., Robertson C. E., Fox K. A. Effect of "fast track" admission for acute myocardial infarction on delay to thrombolysis. BMJ. 1992 Jan 11;304(6819):83–87. doi: 10.1136/bmj.304.6819.83. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Quinn T. Can nurses safely assess suitability for thrombolytic therapy? A pilot study. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 1995 Jun;11(3):126–129. doi: 10.1016/s0964-3397(95)80605-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Quinn T., MacDermott A., Caunt J. Determining patients' suitability for thrombolysis: coronary care nurses' agreement with an expert cardiological 'gold standard' as assessed by clinical and electrocardiographic 'vignettes'. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 1998 Oct;14(5):219–224. doi: 10.1016/s0964-3397(98)80614-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Somauroo J. D., McCarten P., Appleton B., Amadi A., Rodrigues E. Effectiveness of a 'thrombolysis nurse' in shortening delay to thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction. J R Coll Physicians Lond. 1999 Jan-Feb;33(1):46–50. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wilmshurst P. What is meant by 'thrombolysis nurse'? J R Coll Physicians Lond. 1999 May-Jun;33(3):284–285. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]