Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Death notification is a common, difficult, and emotionally laden communication for emergency physicians. Teaching emergency medicine residents the skills for success in this communication is an important focus for educators. To accomplish this task, educators need practical, proven teaching and assessment tools focused on death notification skills. ⋯ This study demonstrates that a defined educational intervention focused on the GRIEV_ING mnemonic can improve physician confidence and competence in death notification.
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During the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, health care workers (HCWs) experienced unusual stressors. The study hospital introduced psychosocial interventions to help HCWs. This study aimed to examine the coping strategies adopted by the emergency department (ED) HCWs who cared for the SARS patients. ⋯ With a supportive hospital environment, ED HCWs chose adaptive coping in response to the outbreak and reported low psychiatric morbidity. Physicians chose humor and Filipinos chose turning to religion as their preferred responses. Psychosocial interventions to help HCWs need to take these preferences into account.
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To determine whether ancillary tests of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), specifically, the total protein concentration, glucose concentration, and percent neutrophils, provide information for diagnosing acute bacterial meningitis among children with low white blood cell (WBC) count in CSF. ⋯ When markedly abnormal, results of CSF total protein concentration, glucose concentration, and percent neutrophils have value for diagnosing acute bacterial meningitis, even among children with a low WBC count in CSF.
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There are numerous resources available to help educators of medical students improve their methods of instruction. For example, several Internet sites exist that describe specific ways to teach and reinforce concepts basic to emergency medicine. ⋯ Educators may wish to take advantage of distance learning programs that offer instruction in areas such as adult learning, curriculum and teaching methods, and medical education evaluation and research. Finally, educators may wish to participate in professional development opportunities such as fellowships and online modules that have been designed to offer instruction on teaching skills, provide an arena for exchange of effective techniques, and acclimate faculty to academic medicine.