Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Emergency and mental health nurses are, in many countries, the designated professionals to conduct acute mental health triage. This review aimed to identify competencies these nurses need in major acute health care services such as emergency and accident departments and mental health crisis services for triage for psychiatric patients in crisis. ⋯ Emergency and mental health nurses require a significant amount of competencies beyond basic nursing education in acute mental health triage. Most described competencies pertain both to knowledge and skills. Less is known about attitude. To integrate the several competencies knowledge, skills, and attitude, clinical reasoning is needed to organize chaos in unpredictable and complex patient situations.
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For patients with social needs, emergency departments can be an essential bridge between the health care system and the community. Emergency nurses' knowledge of and engagement in this work need to be examined to ensure that efforts for social determinants of health screening and the resulting community connections are effective. However, there is limited research in this area of nursing practice. The purpose of this study is to describe emergency nurses' knowledge about social needs in their community, assess their knowledge of existing community resources, and examine their perceived confidence to respond to the social needs of their patients. ⋯ The emergency department is a logical place for screening for social determinants of health and connecting patients with social needs to community resources. Emergency nurses included in this study acknowledged that they want to address the social needs of their patients but reported that they lack knowledge about both social determinants of health and more importantly about the resources available to help patients with social needs. In general, they did not feel confident discussing social determinants of health with their patients in the emergency department and are unlikely to ask about social needs. Barriers to screening include time, competing care priorities, and lack of knowledge and support needed from case managers. Findings from this study have implications for supporting emergency nurses employed in institutions that seek to address social influences of health for the patients in their communities.
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Emergency nurses play an important role in the early management of acute ischemic stroke. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practice of emergency nurses in Beijing regarding the early management of acute ischemic stroke. ⋯ These findings may facilitate the implementation of education/training programs to improve the early management of acute ischemic stroke by nurses in emergency departments.
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This study aimed to identify the symptoms used to assess angina, determine how emergency nurses make triage decisions for potential acute coronary syndrome, and determine emergency nurses' initial actions. ⋯ Emergency nurses primarily used chest symptoms and health history when deciding to evaluate for acute coronary syndrome in the emergency department. Associated symptoms of diaphoresis, fatigue, and shortness of breath, along with health history, also contributed to decision making. Initial registered nurse actions were to obtain an electrocardiogram, prepare the patient for the cardiac catheterization laboratory, and notify the emergency physician of the patient's admission.
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Observational Study
The Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Visitor Restrictions on the Attitudes of Emergency Department Staff.
During the first 2 years of the pandemic, visitors for patients with COVID-19 were prohibited from emergency departments in the United States with few exceptions, leaving patients without their caregivers and advocates. Little is known about emergency nurses and nursing assistive personnel beliefs regarding this issue. Therefore, this study's purpose was to describe and assess relationships among emergency nursing and assistive personnel attitudes and perceptions regarding emergency department "no-visitor policies" for patients with COVID-19. ⋯ Although most participants favored visitation restrictions for patients with coronavirus disease 2019, their beliefs were complex. Navigating stringent visitation policies and vulnerable patients' needs can result in moral distress for ED personnel.