Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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The purpose of this study was to assess burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction scores in emergency nurses after working through the COVID-19 pandemic using the Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5 and compare those scores with similar studies conducted before the pandemic. ⋯ The unnormalized mean findings were similar to prepandemic studies conducted using the same Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5 instrument indicating nurses are at risk of compassion fatigue. In addition, the scores from midshift nurses reflect increased burnout and secondary traumatic stress whereas nurses with 2 children had lower compassion satisfaction. This implies the need for leadership to proactively seek interventions to support nurses on each shift.
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ED health care professionals are at the frontline of evaluation and management of patients with acute, and often undifferentiated, illness. During the initial phase of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, there were concerns that ED health care professionals may have been at increased risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 due to difficulty in early identification of patients. This study assessed the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among ED health care professionals without confirmed history of COVID-19 infection at a quaternary academic medical center. ⋯ At this quaternary academic medical center, among those who volunteered to take an antibody test, there was a low seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among ED clinicians who were asymptomatic at the time of blood draw and not known to have had prior COVID-19 infection.
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Review Case Reports
Hypertriglyceridemia-Induced Pancreatitis and a Lipemic Blood Sample: A Case Report and Brief Clinical Review.
Hypertriglyceridemia is the third most common cause of acute pancreatitis after gallstones and long-term alcohol use. There are specific therapeutic options unique to hyperglyceridemia-induced pancreatitis, such as continuous insulin therapy and plasmapheresis, emphasizing the importance of identifying hypertriglyceridemia as the cause. ⋯ Lipemic samples may interfere with laboratory equipment, resulting in erroneous levels or the inability to measure several serum blood tests. Consider hypertriglyceridemia as a cause for acute pancreatitis in the setting of a lipemic blood sample or when gallstones have been excluded.
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The overarching objective of this scoping review was to explore the breadth of health care literature in attempts to identify current strategies that hospitals adopt to improve patient bed flow, reduce access and exit block while optimizing patient care. ⋯ This study addressed aims and identified current strategies that hospitals adopt to tackle access block while guaranteeing patient care. Government-supported research to map out evidence-based models of care that address exit block and demonstrate efficiencies is required to optimize access to care in the community.