Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Comparative Study
Efficacy of triage by paramedics: a real-time comparison study.
Triage has evolved as an effective method of separating patients who require immediate medical attention from patients with non-urgent problems. The aim of this study was to assess the agreement between paramedics and emergency residents about triage decisions using the 3-level triage (3L) system and the 5-level (5L) Australian triage scale in real time. ⋯ Triaging is commonly performed by nurses in the American emergency system, and triage by paramedics is not common. Few studies are available about triage by paramedics, and more studies are necessary. A new triage scale may be necessary for untrained personnel so that all emergency departments can conduct simple triage.
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In this article, a computer simulation study to improve the quality of care at the emergency department at a community hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, is presented. The simulation model is capable of evaluating the quality of care in terms of length of stay, waiting times, and patient elopement and has been validated by being compared with the data collected in the emergency department. ⋯ The model also shows that implementing team nursing policy (for 2 nurses) could lead to significant improvement in the emergency department's quality of care. Such a model provides a quantitative tool for continuous improvement and flow control in the emergency department and is also applicable to other departments in the hospital.
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ENA has supported family presence at the bedside during resuscitation of a loved one since 1993. Limited support from health care institutions has resulted in research that includes few data from hospitals with long-term family presence experience. The study objectives were to (1) describe the benefit and harm of being present during resuscitation to family members, using perceptions of nurses who work in an emergency department with a well-established family presence protocol; and (2) define family presence using perceptions of nurse participants. ⋯ Emergency nurses can embrace family presence and influence benefits for family members when the practice is well established. Behavior modeling rather than written protocol may affect acceptance of family presence during resuscitation efforts among emergency nurses.