Interventional cardiovascular nursing is a critical care nursing specialty providing complex nursing interventions to patients prone to clinical deterioration, through the combined risks of the pathophysiology of their illness and undergoing technically complex interventional cardiovascular procedures. No guidelines were identified worldwide to assist health care providers and educational institutions in workforce development and education guidelines to minimise patients’ risk of adverse events.

The Interventional Nurses Council (INC) developed a definition and scope of practice for interventional cardiac nursing (ICN’s) in 2013. The INC executive committee established a working party of seven representatives from Australia and New Zealand. Selection was based on expertise in interventional cardiovascular nursing and experience providing education and mentoring in the clinical and postgraduate environment. A literature search of the electronic databases Science Direct, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline and Health Source was performed, using the search terms: clinical deterioration, ST elevation myocardial infarction, vital signs, primary percutaneous coronary intervention, PCI, AMI, STEMI, acute coronary syndrome, peri-procedural care, unstable angina, PCI complications, structural heart disease, TAVI, TAVR, cardiac rhythm management, pacing, electrophysiology studies, vascular access, procedural sedation. Articles were limited to the cardiac catheterisation laboratory and relevance to nursing based outcomes. Reference lists were examined to identify relevant articles missed in the initial search. The literature was compared with national competency standards, quality and safety documents and the INC definition and scope of practice. Consensus of common themes, a taxonomy of education and seven competency domains were achieved via frequent teleconferences and two face-to-face meetings.

The working party finalised the standards on 14 July 2017, following endorsement from the CSANZ, INC, Heart Rhythm Council, CSANZ Quality Standards Committee and the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN). The resulting document provides clinical practice and education standards for interventional cardiac nursing practice.