ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The traditional admission protocol for hip fracture patients often results in long waiting hours in the A&E. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an optimised admission protocol on the time spent in the A&E in an already established multimodal rehabilitation program. MATERIALS: Descriptive, prospective intervention study in two groups of 150 hip fracture patients admitted before and after the implementation of an optimised admission protocol, which included nurse requested x-ray and opioid-free analgesic. RESULTS: The median waiting time in the control group was 251 min (83-632 min.) compared to 185 min (58-522 min, p < 0,001)) in the intervention group. The median waiting time for operation was 18-19 hours in both groups. CONCLUSION: An optimised admission protocol, including nurse requested X-ray for hip fracture patients, led to a reduction in the time spent in the A&E.