Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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The emergency department is an environment where teamwork and communication are of utmost importance and are the foundation for improved patient satisfaction, staff satisfaction, patient safety, and the reduction of clinical errors. An ED staff perceptions of communication and teamwork influences their ability to provide efficient, high quality care to patients. ⋯ As a result of TeamSTEPPS training in an Emergency Department, the staff of that department perceived that both teamwork and communication improved. The TeamSTEPPs program should be made sustainable by incorporating the verbiage and tools from the program into policy and culture within the department.
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Prior research suggests that uncertainty related to symptoms is a driver of emergency department (ED) use, and that patients often leave the ED with uncertainty not being addressed. Our objective was to engage patients to identify domains that contribute to feelings of uncertainty and decisions to use the ED. ⋯ Factors that contribute to uncertainty and decision-making about ED use are both intrinsic (ie, cause, symptom severity) and extrinsic (ie, finances, accessibility). These domains can inform approaches to measure the uncertainty that patients experience, and to design and test interventions for nurses and other providers to help manage patient uncertainty during acute illness.