{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T18:08:33Z","timestamp":1785434913132,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776124800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Emergency Medicine Foundation","award":["EMSS-364R28-2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EMSS-364R28-2017"]}]},{"award":["EMSS-364R28-2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EMSS-364R28-2017"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/040x3fx63","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nursing Reports"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) remains a leading cause of emergency department (ED) presentation, hospitalisation, and preventable healthcare utilisation worldwide. Although guidelines advocate coordinated, preventative, and community-based management, care within ED settings often remains reactive and crisis-driven. Nurses occupy a central role in COPD management; however, the experiential dimensions of nursing practice and its contribution to improving patient outcomes are insufficiently understood. Objectives: To explore the lived experiences of patients, nurses and medical officers regarding COPD presentations to the ED, with particular focus on the nursing role in assessment, coordination, education, and identification of unmet and comorbid care needs. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was undertaken across three regional Australian EDs. Purposive sampling recruited patients presenting with acute exacerbations of COPD and nursing and medical officers involved in their care. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke\u2019s thematic analysis framework, supported by reflexive discussion and audit trails to enhance rigour. Results: Six interrelated themes were identified: (1) nursing within a \u201ccrisis first\u201d model of care; (2) holistic assessment and translation of complexity; (3) education and care coordination as preventative nursing work; (4) relational care and therapeutic connection; (5) nurses as sentinels for undiagnosed comorbidities, particularly obstructive sleep apnoea; and (6) system pressures constraining optimal nursing practice. Participants consistently described nurses as the clinicians who stabilised acute episodes, interpreted contextual risks, coordinated services, and provided relational and educational support, yet whose preventative contributions were limited by time and organisational demands. Conclusions: ED nurses function as critical integrators between acute stabilisation and chronic disease management for patients with COPD. Formalising nurse-led assessment, education, coordination, and sleep-disordered breathing screening may reduce avoidable ED presentations and enhance patient-centred outcomes. Investment in structured nursing models represents a key opportunity for improving COPD care delivery.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nursrep16040136","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T10:29:08Z","timestamp":1776162548000},"page":"136","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Beyond Triage: The Critical Role of Emergency Nurses in COPD Assessment and Management\u2014Insights from Patients and Staff"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2520-1506","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clint","family":"Moloney","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia"},{"name":"Institute of Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4341-804X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gavin","family":"Beccaria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia"},{"name":"School of Health, Psychological and Medical Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0939-9842","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amy B.","family":"Mullens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia"},{"name":"School of Health, Psychological and Medical Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich, QLD 4305, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2023). 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