Articles: hospital-emergency-service.
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Patients who revisit the emergency department (ED) shortly after discharge are a high-risk group for complications and death, and these revisits may have been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Detecting suspected COVID-19 cases in EDs is resource intensive. We examined the associations of screening workload for suspected COVID-19 cases with in-hospital mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission during short-term ED revisits. ⋯ This is the first study to our knowledge to identify that screening for suspected COVID-19 cases in EDs can adversely affect patient outcomes during short ED revisits. Identifying this association could enable ED providers and policy makers to optimize emergency service delivery during an epidemic and help patients.
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Over the past 15 years, the emergency nurse practitioner has been recognized as a nursing specialty role with dedicated scope and standards of practice. However, a paucity of objective data exists to validate the actual practice of emergency nurse practitioners in the emergency care setting. The purpose of this pilot study was to describe the initial acuity of patients assigned to emergency nurse practitioners, actions, decisional complexity, and disposition decisions of advanced practice nurses as they function in emergency departments in a single system. ⋯ Although descriptive, this study is highly illustrative of the broad scope of complex skills and clinical decision making required to perform as an advanced practice nurse in the emergency department. Further examination of education and training is warranted.
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Patient-centered care (PCC) is an essential component of high-quality health, yet patients with non-English language preferences (NELP) experience worse PCC outcomes. Additionally, there are likely unique aspects to PCC for patients with NELP in the emergency department (ED). To inform the development of strategies to improve PCC for NELP in the ED, we sought to understand how Spanish-speaking ED patients experience care and the factors that influenced their perceptions of the patient-centeredness of that care. ⋯ We now have a more nuanced understanding of how Spanish-speaking patients with NELP experience PCC in the ED and what matters to them. Several of the themes identified in this analysis add details about what matters to patients within the domains of previous PCC definitions. This suggests that the conceptualization of PCC may vary based on the setting where care is provided and the population who is receiving this care. Future work should consider patient population and setting when conceptualizing PCC.
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This study sought to assess the cardiorespiratory safety of parenteral olanzapine and benzodiazepine combination treatment compared to parenteral droperidol or haloperidol and benzodiazepine combination treatment. ⋯ This study found decreases in SBP after administering parenteral olanzapine and parenteral droperidol or haloperidol in combination with a parenteral benzodiazepine. The percent change in SBP and the frequency of hypotensive episodes post-combination treatment were not different between groups. There were also no differences between groups in need of increased oxygen requirements post-combination treatment or need for intubation due to cardiorespiratory depression. This study suggests parenteral olanzapine in combination with a parenteral benzodiazepine may have comparable cardiorespiratory safety versus parenteral droperidol or haloperidol in combination with a parenteral benzodiazepine when treating agitation in the adult ED.
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Despite routine screening for intimate partner violence and validated screening tools for lethality, intimate partner violence assessment and linkage to services remain inconsistent in health care settings. This program aimed to implement and evaluate a lethality assessment program, a nurse-led screening and prevention program for intimate partner violence homicide in an emergency department that partnered with a local community agency. ⋯ The lethality assessment program is a feasible protocol in a health care setting to increase intimate partner violence awareness, link high-risk intimate partner violence victims to needed services in real time, and potentially reduce intimate partner violence homicides. Programs like this are essential to address this public health concern.