Articles: emergency-services.
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Multicenter Study
Patients' privacy and satisfaction in the emergency department: a descriptive analytical study.
Respecting privacy and patients' satisfaction are amongst the main indicators of quality of care and one of the basic goals of health services. This study, carried out in 2007, aimed to investigate the extent to which patient privacy is observed and its correlation with patient satisfaction in three emergency departments of Tehran University of Medical Science, Iran. ⋯ Spearman's coefficient indicated a significant correlation between respecting privacy and the patients' satisfaction about the various aspects of privacy studied. Considering the levels of privacy observed together with the patients' degree of satisfaction, it is imperative that clinical professionals address both aspects from conceptual and practical viewpoints.
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Multicenter Study
Practice variation in the management for nontraumatic pediatric patients in the ED.
To improve the management quality and monitoring for common pediatric illnesses in the general emergency department (ED), we examined the effect of physician specialty training on medical resource use and patient outcomes. ⋯ Emergency physicians spent more time and medical resources and admitted patients at a higher rate. Emergency physicians and pediatricians managed critical patients similarly.
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There are no clear recommendations for the diagnostic evaluation of patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with asymptomatic elevated blood pressure. In patients presenting with asymptomatic elevated blood pressure in the ED, we measured the prevalence of abnormalities on a basic metabolic profile (BMP) that led to hospital admission as well as the prevalence of diminished renal function. ⋯ In a homogenous African American population presenting to the ED with asymptomatic elevated BP, there is a relatively high prevalence of abnormalities on the BMP that led to hospital admission. We suggest routine testing of a serum creatinine should be strongly considered in a largely African American patient population with asymptomatic elevated BP in the ED.
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Multicenter Study
Febrile neutropenia in French emergency departments: results of a prospective multicentre survey.
Febrile neutropenia (FN) is common in cancer patients receiving myelotoxic therapy. The procedures to treat FN are well established in oncology, but it is unclear whether management is adequate in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ In this French sample of cancer patients presenting to the ED with FN, management was often inadequate and severity was under-evaluated in the critically ill.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2010
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyPotential impact of peripheral intravenous catheter placement on resource use in the pediatric emergency department.
In an era of pediatric emergency department (PED) overcrowding and diminishing health care resources, routine peripheral intravenous (PIV) catheter placement in the pediatric population requires evaluation because it might directly impact PED efficiency. This study aims to determine the utility of routine PIV catheter placement during phlebotomy. ⋯ Nearly half of the PIV catheters placed in the PED were unused. Unused PIV catheters represent an inefficient use of limited resources that could be redistributed to improve ED efficiency, flow, and resource use.