Roles of nurse‐surgeons in global surgical care: A scoping review

Abstract

AimTo identify the roles of nurse‐surgeons in the provision of surgical care.DesignScoping review.MethodsThis scoping review adhered to the JBI guideline for scoping reviews and EQUATOR Network's PRISMA‐ScR checklist. Searches were performed from May 2022 to July 2022 using a combination of MeSH headings, keywords and filters via database and hand searching based on the eligibility criteria. Keywords included nurse‐surgeon, nurse endoscopist, nurse hysteroscopist and nurse cystoscopist. Data sources were CINAHL, Cochrane, Google Scholar, PubMed and Scopus. Descriptive analysis was used to report the findings.ResultsNinety‐six included records indicated nurse‐surgeon practice in 26 countries. Forty‐one nurse‐surgeon titles were found, the majority of which were types of nurse practitioner. A total of 5,684,198 surgeries were performed by nurse‐surgeons varying from laparotomies to biopsies. Nine records reported that nurse‐surgeons perform surgeries safely and on par with physicians with zero to minimal complications. Nineteen records reported improved surgical care efficiency by nurse‐surgeons in terms of patient access to surgery, waiting times, surgery times, patient show rates, patient education, physician workload and junior physicians' training. Seven records reported high patient satisfaction. Nurse‐surgeons were cost‐effective according to five records. Thirteen records recommended the standardization of nurse‐surgeon practice.ConclusionNurse‐surgeons performed millions of surgeries worldwide assisting in easing the global surgical burden. This review identified the roles and benefits nurse‐surgeons play in global surgical care. Research gaps on nurse‐surgeon roles were discovered including the ambiguity in nurse‐surgeon titles and the need to regulate nurse‐surgeon practice.ImpactThis research addressed the clinical safety, quality, contribution to timely surgical access and cost efficiency of nurse‐surgeon performed surgeries, as well as the need to standardize nurse‐surgeon practice and use a more consistent nurse‐surgeon title to ensure role identification and monitoring.