What is the impact of nursing roles in hospital patient resuscitation?

SummaryIntroductionTraumatic injury is a leading cause of premature mortality and preventable morbidity worldwide. It is considered that nurses perform an integral role in the assessment and management of major trauma, and any in hospital resuscitation.AimThis systematic search and integrative review of the literature aims to determine the state of knowledge of the impact of nursing roles in trauma and other hospital patient resuscitation.ResultsFollowing a comprehensive stringent search and screening process, 18 articles were included in the review. Ten articles focused on trauma resuscitation and 8 described other resuscitation nursing roles in other contexts such as part of a Rapid Response Team (RRT). Nine papers were original research papers, with a mixture of methods, the remaining 9 articles were literature reviews. Quantitative research, with the exception of one paper, was restricted to the impact of the team rather that the individual nursing role. Analysis found that nurses contribute significantly to verbal and non-verbal communication, leadership and effective team work in resuscitation. The use of expert nurses has been demonstrated to facilitate effective treatment of patients at high risk of mortality.ConclusionNurses contribute significantly to communication, leadership and effective team work, which ultimately impact patient outcomes. Although there is literature to support the nurse adopting a leadership role during resuscitation it is limited and demonstrates the need for further dedicated research.