Introduction:

The presence of nurses in the Portuguese pre-hospital context dates back to 1981. In 2007, the Immediate Life Support Ambulances of the National Institute of Medical Emergency were set up, where the nurses took on the role of team leaders. This reflection aims to analyze the role of nurses in pre-hospital setting.

Development:

The pre-hospital context presents strong challenges to Nursing and its professional identity. Nurses conduct their interventions and make their decisions according to the best scientific evidence, following predefined therapeutic protocols. As leaders of the rescue team, they are responsible for managing the different actors providing pre-hospital care, ensuring the safety of health care. People rescued in the pre-hospital expect from the nurses the guarantee of their survival, and also, during the assistance, the care, closely linked to the essence of Nursing, is also preserved. The production and dissemination of scientific knowledge will contribute to the optimization of all autonomous and interdependent practices.

Conclusions:

The role of the pre-hospital nurse is based on three fundamental points: nursing care administration in the healing/health process; implementation of risk management methodologies and development of management strategies for the safety of the rescue; promotion of research in the provision of emergency care that contribute to the improvement of the nursing care. The dissemination of knowledge that supports the current practices in the pre-hospital context will help to realize the importance of the participation of nurses in the framework of the emergency and to affirm the indispensability and irreplaceability of their intervention in pre-hospital setting.

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