Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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The emergency department is a care environment in which indwelling urinary catheters are placed frequently; however, the significance of the role of the emergency department in catheter-associated urinary tract infection prevention has been overlooked. The use of an external female urinary catheter is an alternative to placing an indwelling urinary catheter for female patients in the emergency department who are incontinent of urine or are immobile. The purpose was to describe the implementation of an initiative to decrease the number of indwelling urinary catheters and increase the use of external urinary female catheters in non-critically ill women who visited the emergency department at a 451-bed Magnet-designated community hospital in the Southeast. ⋯ A total of 187 external catheters were used in place of indwelling catheters in female patients over a 3-month period. No skin irritation or breakdown was observed. This project demonstrated the initial staff acceptability and feasibility of external female urinary catheter use in the ED setting.
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In 2016, the Ministry of Health in Jamaica selected the Emergency Severity Index as the triage tool to be used nationally. This study evaluated the effectiveness of this approach by assessing the interrater reliability among new users trained with minimal resources by 2 experienced trainers, 1 local and 1 international. ⋯ Despite a rigorous implementation process, the interrater reliability of the Emergency Severity Index skills of Jamaican emergency nurses and doctors when compared with that of the 2 experts was poor. Several areas were identified for strengthening. Considerations for the implementation of the Emergency Severity Index in countries outside of the US were also discussed.
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Nurses and emergency medical services workers frequently suffer musculoskeletal injuries at a disproportionate rate in relation to the rest of the population. The most common form of this musculoskeletal injury is lumbar spine injury. The purpose of this study was to develop and conduct phase 1 feasibility testing of a contextual lifting intervention that reduces the risks of low back injury. ⋯ Our results support the idea that injury risk can be reduced through appropriate contextual training methods.
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Sickle cell disease is associated with frequent vaso-occlusive episode and emergency department visits. Our group developed (1) a vaso-occlusive episode treatment algorithm based on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommendations, and (2) a case management referral form to identify social behavioral health needs of patients with sickle cell disease in the emergency department. The aims of this project were to (1) disseminate the vaso-occlusive episode algorithm and case management referral form, and (2) to evaluate the individual provider-reported awareness, use, and preferred method of access to each tool among emergency department providers in North Carolina. ⋯ This study can be used to inform future strategies on dissemination of evidence-based tools to emergency department providers.