Nurse effectiveness open library

Welcome

The RNAO Nurse Effectiveness Library features a comprehensive collection of publications highlighting nurses’ impact on the Quintuple Aim. Explore evidence of nurses driving health system transformation and leading evidence-based change across sectors in Canada and globally.

Nurse effectiveness

Designed to inform research, policy and clinical practice, this library is the result of a comprehensive scoping review (2000–2025). Conducted in 2024–2025, the review assessed nurses’ global impact across settings and sectors, focusing on contributions to health equity, patient experience, provider satisfaction, value of care, and population health, collectively known as the Quintuple Aim. 

Findings informed the creation of the Nurse Effectiveness Open Library, a resource that currently shares data on Nurse Practitioners and will soon expand to include other nursing roles.  Coming Soon: Registered nurses, registered practical nurses/licensed practical nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, clinical nurse specialists, and nurse anesthetists. This library provides accessible evidence to inform decision‑making and strengthen health system performance. RNAO will continue to review and update this project on a two-year cycle to reflect the latest evidence and ensure its continued relevance and impact.

Contribute to the Nurse Effectiveness Library   Contact us

Background & history

This project builds on RNAO’s earlier work showcasing 70 years of nurse effectiveness across clinical outcomes, organizational performance and financial results.

Learn more

References for registered nurse effectiveness are coming soon.

2015
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Management of Child Anxiety in a Rural Primary Care Clinic With the Evidence-Based COPE Program.
Publication: Journal of Pediatric Healthcare
Author/s: Jessica L. Kozlowski, Pamela Lusk, Bernadette M. Melnyk
DOI: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2015.01.009
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://uhn.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cul&AN=103791553&site=ehost-live&scope=site
2015
Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations in Medicare Patients With Diabetes: A Comparison of Primary Care Provided by Nurse Practitioners Versus Physicians.
Publication: Medical care
Author/s: Yong-Fang Kuo, Nai-Wei Chen, Jacques Baillargeon, Mukaila A Raji, James S Goodwin
DOI: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000406
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2015
Practice characteristics of primary care nurse practitioners and physicians.
Publication: Nursing outlook
Author/s: Peter I Buerhaus, Catherine M DesRoches, Robert Dittus, Karen Donelan
DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2014.08.008
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2015
Protocol-Driven Allied Health Post-Discharge Transition Clinic to Reduce Hospital Readmissions in Heart Failure.
Publication: Journal of the American Heart Association
Author/s: Erin K Donaho, Andrea C Hall, Jennifer A Gass, Macarthur A Elayda, Vei-Vei Lee, Shreda Paire, Deborah E Meyers
DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.115.002296
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2015
Role of nurse practitioners in reducing cardiovascular risk factors: a retrospective cohort study.
Publication: Journal of clinical nursing
Author/s: Zalika Klemenc-Ketis, Alenka Terbovc, Bostjan Gomiscek, Janko Kersnik
DOI: 10.1111/jocn.12889
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2015
Skin cancer screening in the medically underserved population: A unique opportunity for APNs to make a difference.
Publication: Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
Author/s: Beth DeKoninck, Thomas Christenbery
DOI: 10.1002/2327-6924.12216
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2015
Statewide hepatitis C model of care for rural and remote regions.
Publication: Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Author/s: Wendy Cheng, Saroj Nazareth, James Patrick Flexman
DOI: 10.1111/jgh.12863
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2015
The impact of nurse practitioner services on cost, quality of care, satisfaction and waiting times in the emergency department: a systematic review.
Publication: International journal of nursing studies
Author/s: Natasha Jennings, Stuart Clifford, Amanda R Fox, Jane O'Connell, Glenn Gardner
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2014.07.006
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2015
The role of nurse practitioners in primary healthcare.
Publication: The American journal of managed care
Author/s: John Kralewski, Bryan Dowd, Ann Curoe, Megan Savage, Junliang Tong
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2015
The Southern states: NPs made an impact in rural and healthcare shortage areas.
Publication: Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
Author/s: Thomas Kippenbrock, Wen-Juo Lo, Ellen Odell, Bill Buron
DOI: 10.1002/2327-6924.12245
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
A novel finding: the effect of nurse practitioners on the relation to quality of life, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in vascular surgery.
Publication: Annals of vascular surgery
Author/s: Jeroen M W Donker, Jolanda e Vries, Chantal C e Lepper, Daphne Wielders, Gwan H Ho, Paul G H Mulder, Lijckle van der Laan
DOI: 10.1016/j.avsg.2013.05.012
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
A prospective clinical trial of specialist renal nursing in the primary care setting to prevent progression of chronic kidney: a quality improvement report
Publication: BMC family practice
Author/s:
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2296-15-155
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
A systematic review of advance practice providers in acute care: options for a new model in a burn intensive care unit
Publication: Annals of plastic surgery
Author/s:
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
A systematic review of the cost-effectiveness of nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists: what is the quality of the evidence?
Publication: Nursing Research and Practice
Author/s: Faith Donald, Kelley Kilpatrick, Kim Reid, Nancy Carter, Ruth Martin-Misener, Denise Bryant-Lukosius, Patricia Harbman, Sharon Kaasalainen, Deborah A. Marshall, Renee Charbonneau-Smith, Erin E. Donald, Monique Lloyd, Abigail Wickson-Griffiths, Jennifer Yost, Pamela Baxter, Esther Sangster-Gormley, Pamela Hubley, Célyne Laflamme, Marsha Campbell-Yeo, Sheri Price, Jennifer Boyko, Alba DiCenso
DOI: 10.1155/2014/896587
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
A Systematic Review of the Cost-Effectiveness of Nurse Practitioners and Clinical Nurse Specialists: What Is the Quality of the Evidence?
Publication: Nursing Research and Practice
Author/s: Faith Donald, Kelley Kilpatrick, Kim Reid, Nancy Carter, Ruth Martin-Misener, Denise Bryant-Lukosius, Patricia Harbman, Sharon Kaasalainen, Deborah A. Marshall, Renee Charbonneau-Smith, Erin E. Donald, Monique Lloyd, Abigail Wickson-Griffiths, Jennifer Yost, Pamela Baxter, Esther Sangster-Gormley, Pamela Hubley, Célyne Laflamme, Marsha Campbell–Yeo, Sheri Price, Jennifer Boyko, Alba DiCenso
DOI: 10.1155/2014/896587
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4167459/
2014
Cardiac surgery nurse practitioner home visits prevent coronary artery bypass graft readmissions.
Publication: The Annals of thoracic surgery
Author/s: Michael H Hall, Rick A Esposito, Renee Pekmezaris, Martin Lesser, Donna Moravick, Lynda Jahn, Robert Blenderman, Meredith Akerman, Christian N Nouryan, Alan R Hartman
DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2013.12.049
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
Comparison of image-guided nonfocal hepatic biopsies performed by physicians and nurse midlevel providers
Publication: Journal of the American College of Radiology
Author/s:
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacr.2014.03.021
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/699814/description#description
2014
Continuity of care by cardiothoracic nurse practitioners: Impact on outcome
Publication: Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals
Author/s:
DOI: 10.1177/0218492314523630
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: http://aan.sagepub.com/
2014
Detection of missed injuries in a pediatric trauma center with the addition of acute care pediatric nurse practitioners.
Publication: Journal of trauma nursing : the official journal of the Society of Trauma Nurses
Author/s: Julia Resler, Jodi Hackworth, Erin Mayo, Thomas M Rouse
DOI: 10.1097/JTN.0000000000000080
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
Effectiveness of nurse-practitioner-delivered brief motivational intervention for young adult alcohol and drug use in primary care in South Africa: a randomized clinical trial.
Publication: Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)
Author/s: Jennifer R Mertens, Catherine L Ward, Graham F Bresick, Tina Broder, Constance M Weisner
DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agu030
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
High patient satisfaction with nurse practitioner delivered services at two health centres in urban Jamaica.
Publication: Contemporary nurse
Author/s: Khadene Jones, Cerese Hepburn-Brown, Pauline Anderson-Johnson, Jascinth L M Lindo
DOI: 10.5172/conu.2014.48.2.181
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
Nurse practitioner care improves renal outcome in patients with CKD
Publication: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
Author/s:
DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2012121222
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: http://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/25/2/390.full.pdf+html
2014
Nurse practitioner management of type 2 diabetes
Publication: The Permanente journal
Author/s:
DOI: 10.7812/TPP/13-108
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
Orthopaedic clinical care model in a pediatric orthopaedic setting: outcomes of a 1: 1 model--orthopaedic surgeon and nurse practitioner.
Publication: Orthopedic nursing
Author/s: Pamela Horn, Elizabeth Badowski, Kevin Klingele
DOI: 10.1097/NOR.0000000000000046
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2014
Outcomes associated with nurse practitioners in collaborative practice with general practitioners in rural settings in Canada: a mixed methods study.
Publication: Human resources for health
Author/s: Alison Roots, Marjorie MacDonald
DOI: 10.1186/1478-4491-12-69
Collection: Nurse Practitioner