Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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To see whether three hours of combined doctor and nurse triage would lead to earlier medical assessment and treatment and whether this benefit would carry on for the rest of the day when normal triage had resumed. ⋯ Three hours of combined doctor and nurse triage significantly reduces the time to medical assessment, radiology, and to discharge during the intervention period. Waiting times at midday were shorter in the triage group. There was no significant knock on effect the rest of the day.
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People who watch a lot of medical fiction overestimate the success rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). It has been suggested that this is because CPR is usually shown to be successful on television. This study analysed a popular Flemish medical drama series. Previous research showed that heavy viewing of this series was related to overestimation of CPR success. ⋯ The low survival rate challenges the idea that heavy viewers adopt the overestimation shown by television. Psychological research shows that people ignore base rate information in the shape of statistics, in favour of vivid, dramatic examples. Showing some impressive examples of success might therefore be more important than the overall success rate. It is suggested that the message of television fiction is that doctors are not powerless and that treatment does not stop once the heart stops beating. This helps to create what has been called an "illusion of efficacy".
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To evaluate whether the quality and effectiveness of an emergency department (ED) are modified during weekends. ⋯ Some of the quality and effectiveness markers of the ED improved during weekend days compared with workdays.