SUMMARYUse of nurse practitioners in major accident and emergency (A&E) departments is rapidly increasing: currently they are used in 30% of such departments and this is expected to rise to 63% by the end of 1995.Most are trained by a formal programme in the employing hospital but 12% claim to have no formal training. The nurse practitioner could prescribe a limited range of drugs in 82% of major departments with 'official' nurse practi-tioners, but radiograph requesting was permitted in only 57% of such departments: of those not able to request radiographs, 95% blamed radiographers for preventing this.

Government figures suggest that there has been an increase in the number of young people using cocaine. Emergency and minor injury unit nurses are therefore increasingly likely to care for these people. This article describes the presenting symptoms and management of a patient who had an adverse reaction to cocaine, briefly examines the issues of 'adolescent consent' and discusses cocaine use among young people.

No abstract