Cervical Spine Collar Removal by Emergency Room Nurses: A Quality Improvement Project

This project shows that the charge nurses of a secondary trauma center can use the CCR safely on alert, orientated, and low-risk adult trauma patients as demonstrated by the agreement in the assessments of emergency room nurses and physicians.Contribution to Emergency Nursing Practice
- A practice improvement program to monitor the use of the Canadian C-Spine Rule (CCR) by emergency room charge nurses and compare their assessments with those of physicians
- An overview of challenges and key elements to take into account when training charge nurses to use the CCR to facilitate the safe removal of cervical collars in the alert, orientated, low-risk adult trauma patient
- An overview of the training and clinical coaching should accompany the implementation of CCR guidelines for nurse-led cervical collar removal in nonspecialized centers.