Background: Nursing quality indicators (NQIs) are essential for evaluating and managing care, yet few validated NQIs exist for emergency nursing. The dynamic nature of this field demands specific, validated indicators. Purpose: The purpose of this review was to identify NQIs in adult emergency nursing using Donabedian’s quality categories (structure, process, outcome) and explore their validation. Methods: A scoping review was conducted including articles from 2010 to February 2023, using the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Medline (Ovid) databases. Results: Among 936 screened articles, 18 were included, identifying 85 NQIs across structure (n = 14), process (n = 45), and outcome (n = 26) in emergency nursing. However, the validation of these NQIs was limited. Conclusions: NQIs evaluate emergency nursing quality, primarily in process assessment. Future work should validate the NQIs identified in this review for adult emergency nursing and search for potential new ones.

Peer reviewed