Standard of prostate biopsies undertaken by nurse practitioners
Aim To determine whether prostate biopsies can be safely and reliably undertaken by advanced nurse practitioners compared with those undertaken by a consultant urologist.
Method Twelve core biopsies were taken from 222 unselected consecutive patients by three operators, who were a consultant urologist and two advanced nurse practitioners.
Results The quality and yield of the biopsies, cancer detection rate and complication rate were similar across the three operators.
Conclusion Nurses can safely undertake prostate biopsies with no increase in complications and a cancer detection rate similar to that of an experienced consultant urologist.
