TOPLINE:

High-risk older patients seen by geriatric-focused nurse practitioners (NPs) in the emergency department (ED) had a 10.3% shorter hospital stay than those who were not seen by an NP, according to a study.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of the medical records of 1293 high-risk patients (age ≥ 65 years) identified using Triage Seniors at Risk tool at a single hospital ED in 2023.
• Patients were divided into two groups: those who received a visit from a geriatric-focused NP (n = 652; mean age, 84 years; 61% women; 75% White; 12% Black; 12% Hispanic or Latino) and those who had a consultation ordered but were not seen by the NP (n = 641; mean age, 83 years; 57% women; 73% White; 12% Black; 12% Hispanic or Latino)
• The primary outcome was the admission length of stay.

TAKEAWAY:

• NP consultations in the ED reduced the unadjusted mean and median admission lengths of stay from 7.28 to 5.86 days and from 4.95 to 4.63 days, respectively.
• After adjusting for the confusion assessment method score, mobility score, polypharmacy status, and triage acuity, NP consultations in the ED were associated with a 10.3% reduction in the admission length of stay (P = .017).
• Patients with higher functional mobility also had a significant decrease of 5.1% in the admission length of stay (P ≤ .05).

IN PRACTICE:

“Geriatric patients in the emergency department who were later admitted to the hospital experienced a significant reduction in their admission length of stay by more than 10% if they were consulted by geriatric-focused NPs,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Kenneth M. Forte, DNP, APRN, Bridgeport Hospital, Yale New Haven Health, Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was published online on July 22, 2025, in the Journal of Emergency Nursing.

LIMITATIONS:

This was a single-site study, which limited its generalizability. Moreover, missing data points and confounding factors that were unaccounted for or unidentified could have altered the results. 

DISCLOSURES:

No funding was reported for the study, and the authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.