New standardized nursing cooperation workflow to reduce stroke thrombolysis delays in patients with acute ischemic stroke

OBJECTIVE We assessed the effectiveness of a new standardized nursing cooperation workflow in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) to reduce stroke thrombolysis delays. PATIENTS AND METHODS AIS patients receiving conventional thrombolysis treatment from March to September 2015 were included in the control group, referred to as T0. The intervention group, referred to as T1 group, consisted of AIS patients receiving a new standardized nursing cooperation workflow for intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) at the emergency department of Shanghai East Hospital (Shanghai, People's Republic of China) from October 2015 to March 2016. Information was collected on the following therapeutic techniques used: application or not of thrombolysis, computed tomography (CT) time, and door-to-needle (DTN) time. A nursing coordinator who helped patients fulfill the medical examinations and diagnosis was appointed to T1 group. In addition, a nurse was sent immediately from the stroke unit to the emergency department to aid the thrombolysis treatment. RESULTS The average value of the door-to-CT initiation time was 38.67±5.21 min in the T0 group, whereas it was 14.39±4.35 min in the T1 group; the average values of CT completion-to-needle time were 55.06±4.82 and 30.26±3.66 min; the average values of DTN time were 100.43±6.05 and 55.68±3.62 min, respectively; thrombolysis time was improved from 12.8% (88/689) in the T0 group to 32.5% (231/712) in the T1 group (all P<0.01). In addition, the new standardized nursing cooperation workflow decreased the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores at 24 h (P<0.01) (T0: prethrombolysis, 6.97±3.98; 24 h postthrombolysis, 3.33±2.09; 2 weeks postthrombolysis, 2.25±1.01 and T1: prethrombolysis, 7.00±3.89; 24 h postthrombolysis, 2.60±1.66; 2 weeks postthrombolysis, 2.21±1.02). CONCLUSION The new standardized nursing cooperation workflow reduced stroke thrombolysis delays in patients with AIS.