Do Nurses Have a Lead Role?
Objective: Health professionals should be aware of, and implement, best practice clinical guidelines for stroke care. Using the latest National Stroke Foundation Clinical Guidelines for Acute Stroke Management this study aimed to determine which member of the multidisciplinary team would most likely be responsible for taking the lead role for implementing each recommendation. Methods: Three nurses and one allied health professional independently classified each of the 148 recommendations according to whom they thought most likely to take the lead role in implementing each recommendation. A teleconference was held to discuss any differences of opinion and gain consensus. Results: The multidisciplinary team was identified as responsible for taking the lead role most often (n=54, 36%), followed by medical practitioners (n=52, 35%) and nurses (n=13, 8%). Nurses were identified as being involved either as the lead initiator or as part of the multidisciplinary team in implementing 79 (53%) o
