Summary of the best available evidence for nursing emergency management in the context of public health emergencies

  Objective  The best available evidence for nursing emergency management during public health emergencies was comprehensively retrieved and summarized to provide insights and rationale for clinical decision makers.

  Methods  The evidence resources were systematically searched by combining subject words and free words in the following databases including Up-To-Date, BMJ Best Practice, National Guideline Clearinghouse(NGC), Guidelines International Network(GIN), National Institute for Health and Care Excellence(NICE) guidelines, Chinese Clinical Guideline Library, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario(RNAO), Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network(SIGN), Joanna Briggs Institute(JBI) Evidence Based Practice, New Zealand Guidelines Group, Medlive, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China Biological Medicine Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI), Wanfang, VIP, as well as the World Health Organization(WHO), the Chinese Government website, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention website and other related websites, including the guidelines, best practice information sheets, clinical decisions, evidence summaries, systematic reviews, expert consensus, and government documents. The search time limit was from the establishment of the database to February 18, 2023. Study quality was independently assessed. The evidence was extracted and summarized to form the best available evidence.

  Results  A total of 2 487 pieces of literature were retrieved, and 13 pieces were finally included, consisting of 2 clinical practice guidelines, 1 evidence-based practice, 8 expert consensuses, and 2 government documents. 19 pieces of best available evidence for nursing emergency management were summarized in four aspects: emergency preparedness, emergency readiness, emergency response, and emergency recovery.

  Conclusions  The summarized best available evidence can provide evidence-based recommendations for developing nursing emergency management strategies in the context of public health emergencies. It is advisable to develop reasonable nursing emergency plans according to the actual different situations of public health emergencies, so as to mitigate their impacts on public health and socioeconomics.