Articles: emergency-department.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Randomized Trial Exploring the Effect of a Telephone Call Follow-up on Care Plan Compliance Among Older Adults Discharged Home From the Emergency Department.
Older patients discharged from the emergency department (ED) have difficulty comprehending discharge plans and are at high risk of adverse outcomes. The authors investigated whether a postdischarge telephone call-mediated intervention by a nurse would improve discharge care plan adherence, specifically by expediting post-ED visit physician follow-up appointments and/or compliance with medication changes. The second objectives were to determine if this telephone call intervention would reduce return ED visits and/or hospitalizations within 35 days of the index ED visit and to determine potential cost savings of this intervention. ⋯ Telephone call follow-up of older patients discharged from the ED resulted in expedited follow-up for patients with their primary care physicians. Further study is warranted to determine if these results translate into improved patient outcomes, decreased return ED visits or hospital admissions, and cost savings resulting from this intervention.
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The objective was to determine if use of ultrasound (US) by emergency physicians (EPs) to localize spinal landmarks improves the performance of lumbar puncture (LP). ⋯ These data do not suggest any advantage to the routine use of US localization for LP insertion, although further study may be warranted to look for benefit in the difficult to palpate or obese patient subgroups.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialThe use of a kiosk-model bilingual self-triage system in the pediatric emergency department.
Streamlining the triage process is the key in improving emergency department (ED) workflow. Our objective was to determine if parents of pediatric ED patients in, low-literacy, inner-city hospital, who used the audio-assisted bilingual (English/Spanish) self-triage kiosk, were able to enter their child's medical history data using a touch screen panel with greater speed and accuracy than routine nurse-initiated triage. ⋯ Kiosk triage enabled users to enter basic medical triage history data quickly and accurately in an ED setting with future potential for its wider use in improving ED workflow efficiency.
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Clinical pediatrics · Dec 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effect of a medical clown on pain during intravenous access in the pediatric emergency department: a randomized prospective pilot study.
We report the effect of the presence of a medical clown during insertion of an intravenous catheter during their emergency department visit. ⋯ Therapeutic clowns are useful for diminishing pain and anxiety during painful procedures being performed on children in the emergency department.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Dec 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialBronchial thermoplasty: Long-term safety and effectiveness in patients with severe persistent asthma.
Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) has previously been shown to improve asthma control out to 2 years in patients with severe persistent asthma. ⋯ These data demonstrate the 5-year durability of the benefits of BT with regard to both asthma control (based on maintained reduction in severe exacerbations and ED visits for respiratory symptoms) and safety. BT has become an important addition to our treatment armamentarium and should be considered for patients with severe persistent asthma who remain symptomatic despite taking inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β₂-agonists.