Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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The life of a military child has several challenges that can provide opportunities for resilience or risk for vulnerability. Nurses in emergent/urgent care may encounter military children when they are in a stressful transition such as during a move or deployment. Understanding the unique lifestyle of military children and implementing some key suggestions for practice can improve outcomes for this population. This article highlights the exceptional context of military children, military transitions, and opportunities to recognize families who are at risk and strategies to reach out using the I CARE (identify, correlate, ask, ready resources, and encourage) framework.
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Nurses' perceptions of empowerment have been linked to a number of variables in the hospital workplace, including job satisfaction, autonomy, and work effectiveness. Yet there have been no previous studies of perceptions of empowerment specifically among emergency department (ED) nurses. ⋯ The moderate level of empowerment in this sample may be attributed to the many opportunities for RN involvement in the hospitals within this health care system. Nurse leaders can initiate programs focused on enhancing RN perceptions of empowerment. In addition, there is a need for further research among RNs with different specialty preparation.
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Previous research indicates that patients have difficulty understanding ED discharge instructions; these findings have important implications for adherence and outcomes. The objective of this study was to obtain direct patient input to inform specific revisions to discharge documents created through a literacy-guided approach and to identify common themes within patient feedback that can serve as a framework for the creation of discharge documents in the future. ⋯ Patient input provides meaningful guidance in the development of diagnosis-specific discharge instructions. Several themes and patterns were identified, with broad significance for the design of ED discharge instructions.
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For nurses, moral distress leads to burnout, attrition, compassion fatigue, and patient avoidance. ⋯ Situations with the highest levels of moral distress were related to the competency of health care providers and following family wishes to continue life support, also known as futile care. Moral distress was the reason given by 6.6% of registered nurses for leaving a previous position, 20% said that they had considered leaving a position but did not, and 13.3% stated that they are currently considering leaving their position because of moral distress.