Nurses make up the largest portion of the healthcare workforce, accounting for 57 % of the total health care workforce in 2018 [7]. Nursing functions, scope of practice and capabilities garner increasing attention in light of ongoing pressures on healthcare infrastructure [39]. An ongoing global pandemic, escalating workforce attrition and intensifying demands on an already struggling healthcare infrastructure highlight the pivotal role nurses paly in the delivery of safe and efficient healthcare [39]. These trends are apparent internationally [2].

In 2019 there were 25.6 million attendances internationally to Emergency Departments (EDs) [25]. Emergency nurses are typically the first clinicians that patients encounter on entering the healthcare system [6]. Patient care outcomes from such attendances can clearly and directly be linked to these nurses providing timely, accurate assessment and instigating appropriate management [13]. Rapid prioritization and care delivery to potentially critically ill patients dictates then that emergency nursing staff have specialist knowledge and skills [30]. Thus, it is critical that increasing demands for services do not compromise the quality or timeliness of care provided [33].

Nurse sensitive indicators (NSIs) reflect the nursing duties undertaken in the care of patients. They influence outcomes of patient care and help delineate nursing scope of practice. They are typically reflected in what is taught during nursing education. This content, in turn, influences the styles of teaching employed in nurse education [16]. Such education also imparts to the students the cultures and values of the profession including language, behaviours, and attributes [18]. Imparting the culture and values of the profession through education informs and inspires nurses’ interactions with fellow professionals, patients and their families.

Defining specialist functions of ED nurses in health care provision could be achieved, in part, using nursing sensitive indicators (NSIs) [34]. The International Council of Nurses[19]defined nursing sensitive outcomes as “changes in health status upon which nursing care has had a direct influence”. These indicators provide objective, measurable targets that differentiate nursing care delivery from the combined efforts of multidisciplinary teams [34]. Specificity of NSIs to each area of practice helps defines the crux of individual nursing specialities [8]. Moreover, clarity of knowledge and skills can directly inform areas for practice improvement [14].

Building a workforce of capable specialist emergency nurses is reliant on the delivery of education and training that aligns with improving performance against capability statements and NSIs. Capability statements define what knowledge and skills are essential for nurses to function within the scope in their area of practice [26]. NSIs reflect capability statements and are a measure against which the nursing workforce can be assessed as being able to satisfy the required skills and knowledge [20]. Thus, agreement regarding these indicators is imperative to delineate workforce development.