Aim. To determine if recruitment of a hip fracture nurse specialist has a reduction in length of stay for hip fracture patients.
Method. 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.
Results. 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).
Conclusion. 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.
KEY WORDS: Length of stay - Fracture neck of femur nurse specialist - Time to surgery - 30-day mortality - Fracture neck of femur.
