Redefining perioperative advanced practice. The nurse specialist in anaesthesia and emergency surgery. Part I. Defining the problem and providing a solution.

The development of the specialist nursing role was born out of an honest and clinically-driven review of the system that emergency patients experienced. The approaches taken during this review consistently returned facts that this pathway was less than optimal, and a great many improvements could be made. It is important to identify at this stage that simply adding more resources, i.e.: theatre space and beds, would not have improved the patient's experience. The pathway needed greater continuity and better co-ordination. This required a great deal of cooperation between clinical and managerial staff, including some fundamental re-examination of traditionally held beliefs about the role that perioperative nursing could have in managing this patient group. Part Two of the paper (Radford et al 2003) will present the details of how the development of this post challenged the care delivery system for emergency surgical patients. Particular reference will be made to the scope of practice, clinical and organisational impacts and future directions.

Redefining perioperative advanced practice. Scope of practice: measuring impact and sustainability.

There are increasing demands placed upon the modern NHS, particularly in emergency care. In combating these demands, new approaches to practice will form an overall strategy for improving care delivered to patients. This is the second in a series by authors from the Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust and explains their experience of developing an innovative approach to the management of surgical emergencies through the specialist nurse role in anaesthesia and emergency surgery. It examines the scope of practice, clinical and operational impact of the role, and future developments.