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.

2012
Implementation of a lifestyle intervention for type 2 diabetes prevention in Dutch primary care: opportunities for intervention delivery.
Publication: BMC family practice
Author/s: Paulina W A Vermunt, Ivon E J Milder, Frits Wielaard, Caroline A Baan, Jos D M Schelfhout, Gert P Westert, Hans A M van Oers
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2296-13-79
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Medication adherence among homeless patients: a pilot study of cell phone effectiveness.
Publication: Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
Author/s: Charon Burda, Mary Haack, Ana C Duarte, Farrokh Alemi
DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00756.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Nurse practitioners in postoperative cardiac surgery: are they effective?
Publication: Canadian journal of cardiovascular nursing = Journal canadien en soins infirmiers cardio-vasculaires
Author/s:
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Nurse practitioners in postoperative cardiac surgery: are they effective?.
Publication: Canadian journal of cardiovascular nursing = Journal canadien en soins infirmiers cardio-vasculaires
Author/s: Catherine L Goldie, Natasha Prodan-Bhalla, Martha Mackay
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Outcomes from the evaluation of an emergency department-based mental health nurse practitioner outpatient service in Australia.
Publication: Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
Author/s: Timothy Wand, Kathryn White, Joanna Patching, Judith Dixon, Timothy Green
DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2011.00709.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Paediatric nurse practitioner managed cardiology clinics: patient satisfaction and appointment access.
Publication: Journal of advanced nursing
Author/s: Juli-Anne K Evangelista, Jean Anne Connor, Christine Pintz, Teresa Saia, Cheryl O'Connell, David R Fulton, Patricia Hickey
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05901.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Process evaluation of a lifestyle intervention in primary care: implementation issues and the participants' satisfaction of the GOAL study.
Publication: Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education
Author/s: Jeroen C M Barte, Nancy C W ter Bogt, Frank W Beltman, Klaas van der Meer, Wanda J E Bemelmans
DOI: 10.1177/1090198111422936
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
Safe, timely, convenient, and cost-effective: a single-center experience with bedside placement of enteral feeding tubes by midlevel providers using fluoroscopic guidance.
Publication: American journal of surgery
Author/s: Tricia B Hauschild, Katy Y Fu, Randall C Hipwell, Gabriele Baraghoshi, Mary C Mone, Raminder Nirula, Edward J Kimball, Richard G Barton
DOI: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2012.07.025
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
The cost-effectiveness of substituting physicians with diabetes nurse specialists: a randomized controlled trial with 2-year follow-up
Publication: Journal of Advanced Nursing
Author/s: Elke E. A. Arts, Sabine A. N. T. Landewe-Cleuren, Nicolaas C. Schaper, Hubertus J. M. Vrijhoef
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05797.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2012
The influence of unit-based nurse practitioners on hospital outcomes and readmission rates for patients with trauma.
Publication: The journal of trauma and acute care surgery
Author/s: David S Morris, Patrick Reilly, Jeff Rohrbach, Georgianna Telford, Patrick Kim, Carrie A Sims
DOI: 10.1097/TA.0b013e31825882bb
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
A 12-month evaluation of the impact of Transitional Emergency Nurse Practitioners in one metropolitan Emergency Department.
Publication: Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal
Author/s: Margaret Fry, Jacqueline Fong, Stephen Asha, Glenn Arendts
DOI: 10.1016/j.aenj.2010.10.001
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://uhn.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cul&AN=104820520&site=ehost-live&scope=site
2011
Advanced practice nurse outcomes 1990-2008: a systematic review.
Publication: Nursing economic$
Author/s: Robin P Newhouse, Julie Stanik-Hutt, Kathleen M White, Meg Johantgen, Eric B Bass, George Zangaro, Renee F Wilson, Lily Fountain, Donald M Steinwachs, Lou Heindel, Jonathan P Weiner
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
An emergency department-based mental health nurse practitioner outpatient service: part 2, staff evaluation.
Publication: International journal of mental health nursing
Author/s: Timothy Wand, Kathryn White, Joanna Patching, Judith Dixon, Timothy Green
DOI: 10.1111/j.1447-0349.2011.00743.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo nurse-led follow-up clinic.
Publication: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
Author/s: Venkat M Reddy, Helen Sargent, Matthew J Prior
DOI: 10.1007/s00405-010-1319-7
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Canadian Rural Women’s Experiences with Rural Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioners
Publication: Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care
Author/s: Beverly D. Leipert, Jessica Wagner Delaney, Dorothy Forbes, Cheryl Forchuk
DOI: 10.14574/ojrnhc.v11i1.8
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
URL: https://rnojournal.binghamton.edu/index.php/RNO/article/view/8
2011
Community Outreach and Cardiovascular Health (COACH) Trial: a randomized, controlled trial of nurse practitioner/community health worker cardiovascular disease risk reduction in urban community health centers.
Publication: Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes
Author/s: Jerilyn K Allen, Cheryl R Dennison-Himmelfarb, Sarah L Szanton, Lee Bone, Martha N Hill, David M Levine, Murray West, Amy Barlow, LaPricia Lewis-Boyer, Mary Donnelly-Strozzo, Carol Curtis, Katherine Anderson
DOI: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.111.961573
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Comparisons of screening colonoscopy performed by a nurse practitioner and gastroenterologists: a single-center randomized controlled trial.
Publication: Gastroenterology nursing : the official journal of the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates
Author/s: Michele Limoges-Gonzalez, Nirmal Singh Mann, Amar Al-Juburi, David Tseng, John Inadomi, Lorenzo Rossaro
DOI: 10.1097/SGA.0b013e31821ab5e6
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Costs and cost-effectiveness analysis of treatment in children with eczema by nurse practitioner vs. dermatologist: results of a randomized, controlled trial and a review of international costs.
Publication: The British journal of dermatology
Author/s: M L A Schuttelaar, K M Vermeulen, P J Coenraads
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2011.10470.x
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Emergency nurse practitioners: do they provide an effective service in managing minor injuries, compared to emergency medicine registrars?.
Publication: The New Zealand medical journal
Author/s: Margaret Colligan, Caroline Collins, Bernard Foley, Peter Jones, Jennifer Miles, Irene Zeng
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Hypertension treatment and control within an independent nurse practitioner setting
Publication: American Journal of Managed Care
Author/s:
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Long term follow-up of a randomised controlled trial of services for urinary symptoms.
Publication: BMC health services research
Author/s: Kate S Williams, Dawn Coleby, Keith R Abrams, David A Turner, Christine Shaw, R Philip Assassa, Nicola J Cooper, Madeleine Mk Donaldson, Catherine W McGrother
DOI: 10.1186/1472-6963-11-58
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Nurse practitioner-based models of specialist palliative care at home: sustainability and evaluation of feasibility.
Publication: Journal of pain and symptom management
Author/s: Marilyn Bookbinder, Myra Glajchen, Marlene McHugh, Phil Higgins, James Budis, Neva Solomon, Peter Homel, Carolyn Cassin, Russell K Portenoy
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2010.04.011
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
nurse practitioners improve quality of care in chronic kidney disease: two-year results of a randomised study
Publication:
Author/s: A D van Zuilen, P J Blankestijn, M van Buren, Y W J Sijpkens, H E Sluiter
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Patient satisfaction in treatment for cervical pathology.
Publication: Oncology letters
Author/s: M T J Hendriksen, K W M VAN Delft, G L H Bremer, H J M M Mertens
DOI: 10.3892/ol.2011.273
Collection: Nurse Practitioner
2011
Preliminary assessment of a neuropathic pain treatment and referral algorithm for patients with cancer.
Publication: Journal of pain and symptom management
Author/s: Ellen M Lavoie Smith, Marie A Bakitas, Peter Homel, Mark Piehl, Linda Kingman, Camilo E Fadul, Marilyn Bookbinder
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2011.03.017
Collection: Nurse Practitioner