Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
Pediatric patients often require sedation for diagnostic procedures such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanning. In October 2002, a dedicated sedation service was started at a tertiary care pediatric facility as a joint venture between pediatric emergency medicine and pediatric critical care medicine. Before this service, sedation was provided by the department of radiology by using a standard protocol, with high-risk patients and failed sedations referred for general anesthesia. ⋯ The implementation of a dedicated pediatric-sedation service resulted in fewer incomplete studies related to inadequate sedation, in fewer canceled studies secondary to patient illness, in fewer referrals for general anesthesia, and in fewer recorded instances of sedation-associated hypoxia. These findings have important implications in terms of patient safety and resource utilization.
-
Emergency medicine (EM) postgraduate training programs must prepare residents for the ethical challenges of clinical practice. Bioethics curricula have been developed for EM residents, but they are based on expert opinion rather than resident learning needs. Educational interventions based on identified learning needs are more effective at changing practice than interventions that are not. The goal of this study was to identify the bioethics learning needs of Canadian EM residents. ⋯ This needs assessment provides valuable information about the ethical challenges EM residents encounter and the ethical issues they believe they have not been prepared to face. This information should be used to direct and shape ethics education interventions for EM residents.