The role of ophthalmic triage and the nurse practitioner in an eye-dedicated casualty department

Purpose To evaluate the appropriateness of triage decisions in a busy ophthalmic casualty department and to assess the diagnostic and management skills of eye-dedicated nurse practitioners. Methods Three hundred and one consecutive patients attending the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre (BMEC) accident and emergency (A&E) department over a 2 week period were included in this prospective study. Patients were categorised in terms of urgency in concordance with strict guidelines, and the agreement between the final diagnosis and this system of prioritisation was then investigated. To evaluate nurse practitioner (NP) skills, all patients seen and managed by a NP were also assessed by the most senior doctor in casualty at the time in a masked fashion. Waiting times and a breakdown of waiting times were also calculated. Results Upon establishment of a diagnosis, triage category allocation was found to be appropriate in all 301 cases, Fifty patients (16.67%) were seen by the NP. Of these the supervising doctor concurred with the NP diagnosis in all cases and with the proposed management in 96% of cases. The mean waiting time (+/- SD) was 83.43 +/- 45.84 min with a range of 5-335 min. The delay before being attended to was greater for less urgent cases as categorised by the triage system. Conclusion This study confirms the high standard of diagnostic and management skills of the ophthalmic NP and indicates that the triage system of patient prioritisation is accurate. Waiting times in the A&E department remain unacceptable and ways of: addressing this include improved ophthalmic training of general practitioners, diverting a greater proportion of non-acute cases to the primary care clinic and expanding the role of the NP.