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.

2013
Family-centred care delivery: comparing models of primary care service delivery in Ontario.
Publication: Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien
Author/s: Liesha Mayo-Bruinsma, William Hogg, Monica Taljaard, Simone Dahrouge
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Group cognitive behavioral therapy to improve the quality of care to opioid-treated patients with chronic noncancer pain: a practice improvement project
Publication: Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
Author/s:
DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00800.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Hospital outcomes for a home-based palliative medicine consulting service
Publication: Journal of Palliative Medicine
Author/s:
DOI: 10.1089/jpm.2012.0414
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
How do nurse practitioners in acute care affect perceptions of team effectiveness?
Publication: Journal of Clinical Nursing (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
Author/s: Kelley Kilpatrick
DOI: 10.1111/jocn.12198
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://uhn.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cul&AN=89023838&site=ehost-live&scope=site
2013
Implementing shared medical appointments for heart failure patients in a community cardiology practice: a pilot study.
Publication: Heart & lung : the journal of critical care
Author/s: Sara Paul, Karen S Yehle, Kathryn Wood, Suzanne Wingate, Brian Steg
DOI: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2013.08.006
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Improved clinical outcomes and efficacy with a nurse-led dysphagia hotline service.
Publication: Frontline gastroenterology
Author/s: Iain Alexander Murray, Carolyn Waters, Giles Maskell, Edward J Despott, Joanne Palmer, Harry R Dalton
DOI: 10.1136/flgastro-2012-100244
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Job satisfaction and perceived autonomy for nurse practitioners working in nurse-managed health centers.
Publication: Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
Author/s: Ann Linguiti Pron
DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00776.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Nurse practitioner-staffed clinic at Virginia Mason improves care and lowers costs for women with benign breast conditions.
Publication: Health affairs (Project Hope)
Author/s: C Craig Blackmore, Jordan W Edwards, Carly Searles, Debra Wechter, Robert Mecklenburg, Gary S Kaplan
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0006
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Outcomes evaluation of a weekly nurse practitioner-managed symptom management clinic for patients with head and neck cancer treated with chemoradiotherapy.
Publication: Oncology nursing forum
Author/s: Heidi Mason, Mary Beth DeRubeis, Jared C Foster, Jeremy M G Taylor, Francis P Worden
DOI: 10.1188/13.ONF.40-06AP
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Removal of foreign bodies from children's ears: a nurse-led clinic.
Publication: Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain) : 1987)
Author/s: Jo Williams, Adal Mirza, Kim To, Konstance Tzifa, Lisha McClelland, Mat Daniel
DOI: 10.7748/ns2013.08.27.51.43.e7630
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Resident and family perceptions of the nurse practitioner role in long term care settings: a qualitative descriptive study.
Publication: BMC nursing
Author/s: Jenny Ploeg, Sharon Kaasalainen, Carrie McAiney, Ruth Martin-Misener, Faith Donald, Abigail Wickson-Griffiths, Nancy Carter, Esther Sangster-Gormley, Lori Schindel Martin, Kevin Brazil, Alan Taniguchi
DOI: 10.1186/1472-6955-12-24
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Scope-of-practice laws for nurse practitioners limit cost savings that can be achieved in retail clinics.
Publication: Health affairs (Project Hope)
Author/s: Joanne Spetz, Stephen T Parente, Robert J Town, Dawn Bazarko
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0544
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
https://uhn.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.a…

" target="_blank">Structure, Process, and Outcomes of Healthcare Service Provision, at Two Primary Care Settings, by an Advanced Community Nurse Practitioner and a General Nurse Practitioner.
Publication: Pacific Rim International Journal of Nursing Research
Author/s:
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://uhn.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cul&AN=87474034&site=ehost-live&scope=site
2013
Successful treatment of patients with hepatitis C in rural and remote Western Australia via telehealth.
Publication: Journal of telemedicine and telecare
Author/s: Saroja Nazareth, Nickolas Kontorinis, Niroshan Muwanwella, Alan Hamilton, Nadine Leembruggen, Wendy S C Cheng
DOI: 10.1258/jtt.2012.120612
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2013
Telemedical Cervical Cancer Screening to Bridge Medicaid Service Care Gap for Rural Women
Publication: Telemedicine Journal and e-Health
Author/s: Wilbur C. Hitt, Gordon Low, Tommy Mac Bird, Rachel Ott
DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2012.0148
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678580/
2013
Telepsychiatry by APRNs: An Answer to the Shortage of Pediatric Providers?...Advanced Practice Registered Nurses
Publication: Issues in Mental Health Nursing
Author/s: Erin Ellington
DOI: 10.3109/01612840.2013.784386
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://uhn.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cul&AN=104220909&site=ehost-live&scope=site
2013
The Quality and Effectiveness of Care Provided by Nurse Practitioners
Publication: The Journal for Nurse Practitioners
Author/s: Julie Stanik-Hutt, Robin P. Newhouse, Kathleen M. White, Meg Johantgen, Eric B. Bass, George Zangaro, Renee Wilson, Lily Fountain, Donald M. Steinwachs, Lou Heindel, Jonathan P. Weiner
DOI: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2013.07.004
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1555415513004108
2013
Using Medicare data to assess nurse practitioner-provided care.
Publication: Nursing outlook
Author/s: Catherine M DesRoches, Jennifer Gaudet, Jennifer Perloff, Karen Donelan, Lisa I Iezzoni, Peter Buerhaus
DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2013.05.005
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
A nurse-led ocular oncology clinic in Liverpool: results of a 6-month trial.
Publication: Eye (London, England)
Author/s: T Sandinha, G Hebbar, N Kenawy, L Hope-Stone, B Damato
DOI: 10.1038/eye.2012.62
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
A randomised trial comparing the clinical effectiveness of different emergency department healthcare professionals in soft tissue injury management
Publication: BMJ open
Author/s: Carey Middleton McClellan, Fiona Cramp, Jane Powell, Jonathan Richard Benger
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001092
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Effective Pharmacological Treatment of Painful Diabetic Neuropathy by Nurse Practitioners: Results of an Algorithm-Based Experience
Publication: Pain Medicine (United States)
Author/s:
DOI: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2012.01469.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Effectiveness of nurse practitioner coordinated team group visits for type 2 diabetes in medically underserved Appalachia.
Publication: Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
Author/s: Brenda Thomas Jessee, Carolyn M Rutledge
DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00764.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Evaluating the quality of care delivered by an emergency department fast track unit with both nurse practitioners and doctors.
Publication: Australasian emergency nursing journal : AENJ
Author/s: Michael Dinh, Andrew Walker, Ahilan Parameswaran, Nicholas Enright
DOI: 10.1016/j.aenj.2012.09.001
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Evaluation of a Nurse Practitioner Disease Management Model for Chronic Heart Failure: A Multi-Site Implementation Study
Publication: Congestive Heart Failure
Author/s: Julie Lowery, Faith Hopp, Usha Subramanian, Wyndy Wiitala, Deborah E. Welsh, Angela Larkin, Karen Stemmer, Cassandra Zak, Peter Vaitkevicius
DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-7133.2011.00228.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-7133.2011.00228.x
2012
Family satisfaction with care provided by nurse practitioners to nursing home residents with dementia at the end of life.
Publication: Clinical nursing research
Author/s: Linda M Liu, A J Guarino, Ruth Palan Lopez
DOI: 10.1177/1054773811431883
Collection: Nurse Practitioner