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Preoperative assessments by trained nurses were equal in quality to assessments by preregistration house officers

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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 …

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Footnotes

  • Source of funding: National Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment.

  • For correspondence: Professor J Primrose, University Surgery, University of Southampton School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton. UK. j.n.primrose{at}soton.ac.uk