THE EMERGENCY NURSE PRACTITIONER ROLE IN MAJOR ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCYDEPARTMENTS - PROFESSIONAL ISSUES AND THE RESEARCH AGENDA

The emergency nurse practitioner (ENP) is a rapidly developing role wi thin emergency health care provision in the United Kingdom (UK), This paper explores some of the available literature concerning the develop ment of the role in the context of major accident and emergency depart ments, The professional and legal implications of-this shift in role b oundaries are discussed. The current inconsistencies in educational pr ovision and the potential consequences for practice in this area, are highlight-ed, The relative plethora of rigorous evaluation studies of ENP role effectiveness in North America, is contrasted with the curren t paucity of empirical data available in the UK, A number of methodolo gical issues concerning the evaluation of ENP services are identified, The need for research in this area, alongside a programme of continui ng local audit to guide and inform evidence-based practice, is emphasi zed.