The concept and the development of chest pain emergency departments as a strategy in the war against heart attack.

Critical nurses in the CPED can have a very fulfilling role in expanding their influence within the hospital setting, as well as within the community to become part of the needed change to significantly reduce deaths from MI in the United States. The mission impossible becomes possible when critical care nurses are part of this challenging process. Nowhere can these efforts be better started than in emergency department committed to continuous quality improvement changes under this new paradigm. The person who can best help make this strategy work the best is the critical care nurse in charge.