Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Every other year, the International Council of Nurses convenes a conference. In 2011 it was held in Malta, and Diane Gurney, RN, MS, CEN, ENA Past President, attended to represent ENA. In this article Diane and Paul Calleja, MSc(Manchester) Nurs, BSc (Hons) Nurs, Dip Nurs, Malta Emergency Nurses Association (MENA) International Relationship Officer, describe this visit, the significant nursing history in Malta, emergency nursing, and MENA.
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Routine monthly monitoring of blood culture (BC) contamination rates detected a spike (>3%) in false-positive BCs drawn in the emergency department. This triggered an ad hoc quality-improvement team to develop and implement a corrective action plan in our 230-bed urban community hospital with 58,000 ED visits annually. ⋯ The ED BC contamination rate spike occurred over a 3-month period during which the emergency department was transitioning into a new facility on the same campus. The total hospital BC contamination rate never rose above the 3% benchmark, which illustrates the importance of tracking ED-specific data.