Trending Articles
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic: Bereavement outcomes between hospital and home deaths in palliative care.
Australian COVID-19 public health measures reduced opportunities for people to communicate with healthcare professionals and be present at the death of family members/friends. ⋯ These findings highlight the need for health services to recognize bereavement as fundamental to palliative and health care and provide pre- and post death grief and bereavement care to ensure supports are available particularly for those managing end-of-life at home, and that such supports are in place prior to as well as at the time of the death.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2024
Changing culture: An intervention to improve blood culture quality in the emergency department.
Blood cultures (BCs) remain a key investigation in ED patients at risk of bacteraemia. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a multi-modal, nursing-led intervention to improve the quality of BCs in the ED, in terms of single culture, underfilling and contamination rates. ⋯ Significant improvements in BC quality are possible with nursing-based interventions in the ED.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2024
Evaluation of stable chest pain following emergency department presentation: Impact of first-line cardiac computed tomography diagnostic strategy in an Australian setting.
International guidelines provide increasing support for computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) in investigating chest pain. A pathway utilising CTCA first-line for outpatient stable chest pain evaluation was implemented in an Australian ED. ⋯ The pathway increased CTCA utilisation and reduced downstream investigations. CTCA was associated with medication changes and improved ICA efficiency.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2024
Emergency department presentations for chest complaints after mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations in children and adolescents.
To investigate characteristics and management of children presenting with chest complaints to a tertiary paediatric ED post-mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. ⋯ There was a large number of possible mRNA COVID-19 vaccine-related chest complaints presenting to the ED. Few patients had abnormal troponins or myocarditis.