Abstract
The purpose of this research was to describe the characteristics of nurses who perform telephonic care quality assessment, or utilization review, prior to, concurrent with, and after medical interventions and hospitalizations. It compares these nurses demographically to nurses employed in other settings, discusses the nurses' perceptions of the nature of their work, examines assertions that utilization review is a nursing activity, and documents the nurses' education and training for ethical decision-making. Implications for nursing care quality are discussed.