A hip fracture nurse specialist has a positive outcome on the length of stay for patients with hip fractures

• Published in: Il Giornale di chirurgia Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 551 - 555
• Main Authors: Kohli, S, Bawa, A, Crooks, S, Nagarajakumar, A, Brooker, J, Doddi, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Italy 01-11-2019
• ISSN: 1971-145X

To determine if recruitment of a hip fracture nurse specialist has a reduction in length of stay for hip fracture patients.
Primary data was extracted from the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD). The length of stay of hip fracture patients from 2011-2014 was compared to the period 2014-17, following appointment of a hip fracture nurse specialist in 2014.
The average length of stay in the first group (2011-2014) was 19.94 days and in the second group (2014-2017) was 16.52 days. There was a reduction of 3.42 days (17.15%) and was statistically significant. There was also a reduction in the time to surgery (1.38 days versus 1.15 days) and the crude 30-day mortality (10% versus 6.06%) both of which were statistically significant. The two groups were well-matched with regards to age, female: male ratio and severity of co-morbidities (based on American Society of Anaesthesiologists physical status classification system).
The introduction of a dedicated hip fracture nurse specialist has a positive outcome on hip fracture patients by reducing length of stay, time to surgery and the crude 30-day mortality.