Preoperative assessments by trained nurses were equal in quality to assessments by preregistration house officers
QUESTION: Are preoperative assessments by trained nurses equal in quality to those done by preregistration house officers?
Design
Randomised (allocation concealed), unblinded, controlled equivalence/non-inferiority trial.
Setting
4 hospital sites in 3 UK National Health Service Trusts.
Patients
1907 patients who required assessment before general anaesthesia for general, vascular, urological, or breast surgery. 1874 patients (98%) were included in the analysis (mean age 57 y, 49% women).
Intervention
954 patients were allocated to preoperative assessment by a nurse who had completed master’s level courses in advanced practice or equivalent. 953 patients were allocated to assessment by a preregistration house officer.
Main outcome measures
1 of 2 specialist registrars in anaesthesia examined each patient after the nurse or house officer and assessed their performance in each of history taking, physical examination, and test …
