Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
-
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 136.9 million ED visits in 2015, of which 21.4 million (15.6%) were by patients who were 65 or older. This US population demographic is expected to grow by 112% over the next 40 years, becoming just below 25% of the total US population. Emergency nurses will play an increasingly important part in the development of nursing care for geriatric patients. The purpose of this study was to explore emergency nurses' perception of their ability to care for geriatric patients in the emergency setting. ⋯ Emergency departments should develop integrated systems to facilitate appropriate care of older patients. Identified barriers to improved care include a lack of integration between emergency care and community care, deficits in geriatric-specific education, inconsistent use of early screening for frailty, and lack of resources in the emergency care environment to intervene appropriately.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Pediatric Triage Education for the General Emergency Nurse: A Randomized Crossover Trial Comparing Simulation With Paper-Case Studies.
The majority of pediatric emergency patients are seen in mixed-age emergency departments and triaged by general emergency nurses. Educational methods for teaching pediatric triage education to general emergency nurses have not been well studied, and previous studies of the use of the Emergency Severity Index in children have been performed primarily in centers that are high volume for pediatrics. ⋯ A combined approach of paper-based cases and high-fidelity simulation was effective at improving pediatric triage accuracy among a group of general ED nurses with limited exposure to pediatric patients. The results from this study suggest that combining both methods of education may be a viable means of providing general emergency nurses with additional knowledge in pediatric triage; however, persistent trends in undertriage should be studied further.
-
There are significant and negative psychological effects that can occur in nursing staff caring for pediatric patients experiencing critical incidents. Debriefings can provide relief from the stressors caused by critical incidents. Adapting a pre-existing critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) process to ED staff is 1 way to provide staff debriefing. ⋯ Pediatric ED staff de-stress in a variety of ways, and a nonmandatory, formalized CISD process-open to staff involved and facilitated by an emergency nurse-could provide additional relief from stress. This debriefing process should include positive feedback and critiques to help improve care processes, information about mechanism of injury, and should occur before the end of shift or within 12 to 24 hours of the incident. Staff may deal with personal feelings outside of debriefing.