Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a severe shortage of healthcare professionals, emphasized in a stark manner by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, where the mortality rate was primarily a consequence of medical professionals lacking the technical know-how for conducting specialized procedures. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the success rates of nurse-performed emergency surgeries, focusing on trauma care (e.g., cricothyrotomy), rural obstetric emergencies (e.g., caesarean section, hysterectomy), and general procedures (e.g., laparotomy, appendectomy). METHODS: A systematic search was conducted across eight major databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, ProQuest) following PRISMA guidelines. Four eligible studies were identified, and data were pooled using a fixed-effects model. RESULTS: The synthesis of data across the four selected studies revealed a pooled relative risk (RR) of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.78, 1.00) and odds ratio (OR) of 0.80 (95% CI: 0.65, 0.99) about the efficacy in emergency surgeries conducted by nurses. These four studies were the only ones meeting our strict inclusion criteria of reporting outcome data on nurse-performed emergency procedures. An analysis of heterogeneity demonstrated minimal variability among the studies, with a Chi(2) value of 1.54, df = 3, P = 0.67, and I(2) = 0%. The test for overall effect yielded a statistically significant Z statistic of 2.03 (P = 0.04), indicating a meaningful finding. The observed inferences also showed that the surgical procedures exhibited minimal complications. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that trained nurses can safely and effectively perform selected emergency surgical procedures. While encouraging, the limited number of studies highlights the need for further research to confirm these findings and guide clinical practice.