The orthopaedic nurse practitioner: Breaking tradition to fill gaps in care delivery through varied scopes of practice

Background: Musculoskeletal conditions are the world's fourth largest burden of disease, accounting for more than 50% of chronic health conditions in the population aged >50 years (Briggs et al., 2016). This increasing burden is due to a progressively overweight, sedentary and ageing population and is often poorly recognised as a priority globally in an under-resourced health care system. This article reviews the current literature to identify where Orthopaedic Nurse Practitioners (ONPs) currently fill gaps in care delivery through varied scopes of practice in musculoskeletal trauma, degenerative disease, tumour and bone health. The varied scopes of practice include, fracture management, surgical assisting, performing surgical and/or advanced clinical procedures, prescribing treatment for bone health, conducting home visits and managing ONP led outpatient clinics. The article will outline current ONP roles in orthopaedic trauma, pain management, fragility hip fractures, osteoporosis, bone and soft tissue sarcoma and surgical assisting which effectively address long waiting lists, gaps in care delivery and reduce costs currently being managed by the health care system. Method: A brief search of the literature published from January 2008-January 2020 on CINAHL, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Joanna Briggs Institute, Ovid, PubMed, Embase and Pro Quest databases was undertaken using key words Orthopaedic Nurse Practitioner, Advanced Practice Nurse (APN), musculoskeletal health, bone health, nurse-led and nurse specialist. Conclusion: ONPs offer an innovative, viable and cost-effective solution to providing comparable, effective and efficient care with varied scopes of practice and valuable experience in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.