Implications for practice and research

• Nurses and midwives often face emergency situations outside working hours and locations where first aid may be required.

• Further research is needed into the preparation, understanding and support of practitioners responding to such situations.

Context

Nurses and midwives who face emergency situations outside of the work environment, in off-duty times, face challenging decisions. There is often an expectation that they can and will be able to provide first aid services competently, despite this being a skill set not routinely updated as part of their professional work life or whose implications in terms of medicolegal and professional impacts are well understood. The authors explore registered nurses’ …