Utilizing trauma nurse practitioners to decrease length of stay.

This article describes a nurse practitioner model utilized to decrease the length of stay and improve the quality of discharge planning for hospitalized trauma patients between 1999 and 2006. An observational method employing nurse practitioners to decrease length of stay for the trauma population during these years is described. Adding nurse practitioners to the trauma team has resulted in decreasing the length of stay in all 4 of the injury severity score groups. Adding nurse practitioners to the trauma team provides a core member in a revolving trauma service. Consequently, length of stay and discharge planning have been positively impacted.