Australasian emergency care
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Australas Emerg Care · Nov 2018
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPragmatic evaluation of an observational pain assessment scale in the emergency department: The Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) scale.
Pain assessment is challenging in older people with cognitive impairment who present to the emergency department and may result in suboptimal management. Therefore, the usefulness of the Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) tool for older people with cognitive impairment presenting with a painful injury was evaluated. ⋯ The PAINAD has potential as an effective pain assessment tool for older people with cognitive impairment in emergency departments. Strategies such as partnering with carers and family to collaboratively assess pain require further investigation in this setting.
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Australas Emerg Care · Nov 2018
'It's turned our world upside down': Support needs of parents of critically injured children during Emergency Department admission - A qualitative inquiry.
Childhood injury is the largest cause of paediatric hospitalisation in Australia. Parents' psychological wellbeing is important in enabling them to support their children's recovery, however little is known about parents' psychosocial support needs during their child's admission to the emergency department. This study explores the experiences and support needs of parents of critically injured children in the emergency department. ⋯ There is a need for easy-to-understand information for parents in the ED following their child's injury. Recommendations include use of a checklist for emergency clinicians on what information to provide parents and provision of anticipatory guidance to parents on what to expect psychologically following injury. A dedicated family support coordinator is needed to support parents and children throughout the injury trajectory.
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Australas Emerg Care · Nov 2018
Enhancing the training of trauma resuscitation flash teams: A mixed methods study.
To determine whether simulated multidisciplinary team training influences teamwork practices and experiences when resuscitating critically injured patients and to generate evidence for training trauma resuscitation flash teams. ⋯ Frontline clinicians identified real-world experiences that enable or impede team performance in trauma resuscitations. Our findings ascertain why multidisciplinary team training enhances team performance and what content should be incorporated in training programmes.
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Australas Emerg Care · Nov 2018
ReviewIncidence and factors associated with substance abuse and patient-related violence in the emergency department: A literature review.
The level of workplace violence in emergency departments worldwide has reached an alarming level. Substance abuse is thought to play a major part in the escalation of aggressive and violent behaviour and is suspected to be responsible for the majority of violent escalations in the emergency department. The aim of this scoping review was (1) to investigate the incidence of workplace violence in the emergency department, their association to substance abuse and (2) to identify factors associated with workplace violence such as perpetrator characteristics and environmental factors. ⋯ Substance abuse was found to be a primary factor linked to workplace violence in the emergency departments. Interventional studies are warranted, focusing on prevention of workplace violence and management of abuse and intoxicated patients in the emergency department.