Identifying foot fractures and dislocations.

As the roles of emergency nurse practitioners expand, more patients with minor injuries are being managed independently by nursing staff. Injuries to the foot and ankle are common among such patients, and X-rays are frequently performed to aid their diagnoses. Some of these fractures and dislocations are subtle and difficult to identify, so practitioners must adopt a structured approach to reading X-rays. This article describes some of these injuries and offers advice, including X-ray illustrations, on how to identify them.