Patients presenting with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) are at risk of early death. This may be reduced by timely assessment and treatment.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if Nurse-led Early Triage (NET) in the coronary care unit (CCU) can improve time to assessment and management of NSTE-ACS patients.

Data on 79 consecutive chest pain patients admitted pre-NET to the acute admissions unit (AAU) and on 103 patients admitted in the first six months of the NET service in CCU, was re-examined and compared to subsequent data obtained on 92 patients admitted via NET five years later, in order to re-evaluate the service.

NET resulted in significant improvements in: the number of patients with chest pain who had their 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) performed within 10 min of admission (94% vs 32%, p<0.001); the number of high-risk NSTE-ACS patients prescribed clopidogrel (72% vs 42%, p<0.01); and the number being managed in CCU (82% vs 34%, p<0.01). Comparison of the NET service at five years with the pre-NET service demonstrated measurable benefits were sustained (p<0.01) for the same comparative end points. There were no significant differences in these end-points of time to ECG, clopidogrel prescription nor management in CCU for high-risk patients between the NET groups at six months and five years, demonstrating that current triage is as effective as when first introduced.

This study demonstrated the positive impact of nurse-led early triage for NSTE-ACS patients and that initial benefits have been sustained.