Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Review Meta Analysis
Interventions to improve emergency department throughput and care delivery indicators: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Emergency department (ED) crowding has repercussions on acute care, contributing to prolonged wait times, length of stay, and left without being seen (LWBS). These indicators are regarded as systemic shortcomings, reflecting a failure to provide equitable and accessible acute care. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving ED care delivery indicators. ⋯ Operational strategies such as POC testing and triage liaison physicians could mitigate the impact of ED crowding and appear to be effective. The current evidence supports these strategies when tailored to the appropriate practice environment.
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Multicenter Study
Pediatric mental health emergency department visits from 2017 to 2022: A multicenter study.
The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected children's mental health (MH) and changed patterns of MH emergency department (ED) utilization. Our objective was to assess how pediatric MH ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from expected prepandemic trends. ⋯ During the late pandemic, pediatric MH ED visits decreased below expected rates; however, visits by females and for specific conditions remained elevated, indicating a need for increased attention to these groups. Prolonged ED visit lengths may reflect inadequate availability of MH services.
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Prior research has provided retrospective validity evidence for an abbreviated Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) to measure burnout among emergency medicine (EM) residents. We sought to provide additional validity and reliability evidence for the two-factor, six-item abbreviated CBI. ⋯ CFA of the abbreviated CBI demonstrated good reliability and model fit. The two-factor, six-item survey instrument identified an increase in the prevalence of burnout among EM residents that coincided with working in the COVID-19 environment. The abbreviated CBI has sufficient reliability and validity evidence to encourage its broader use.
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This study aims to assess the outcome of challenging documented moderate, severe, or unknown beta-lactam allergies with full dose administration of a beta-lactam antibiotic in emergency department (ED) patients admitted for acute bacterial infection. ⋯ This study suggests that full-dose challenge of moderate, severe, or unknown beta-lactam allergies can be safely accomplished in the ED. This approach avoids unnecessary penicillin allergy skin testing and reduces utilization of suboptimal alternative antibiotic regimens.