Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Many EDs have difficulty transferring admitted patients to inpatient beds in a timely manner because of access block. We assessed ED patient preferences for waiting location. ⋯ Patients would prefer to wait in ward corridors for their ward bed if there was no ED cubicle available. Waiting in the ED corridor is their least preferred option. Patients usually expect to get to their ward bed within 3 h. However, with high levels of access block, patient expectations for waiting times for a bed are usually not met. These findings could be used to drive system changes that are more patient-focussed.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2009
Comparative StudyProcedural sedation in children in the emergency department: a PREDICT study.
To investigate current procedural sedation practice and compare clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for procedural sedation at Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) sites. This will determine areas for improvement and provide baseline data for future multicentre studies. ⋯ Procedural sedation in this research network commonly uses N(2)O, ketamine and midazolam for a wide range of procedures. Areas of improvement are the lack of guidelines for certain agents, documentation, staff competency training and auditing processes. Multicentre research could close gaps in terms of age cut-offs, fasting times and optimal indications for various agents.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2009
Patterns of presentation to the Australian and New Zealand Paediatric Emergency Research Network.
To describe epidemiological data concerning paediatric ED visits to an Australian and New Zealand research network. ⋯ This is the first description of the epidemiology of patient presentations to major paediatric ED in Australia and New Zealand. It details baseline data important to future collaborative studies and for planning health services for children.
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The development of clinical practice guidelines (CPG) is a core task in EDs and CPGs are widely used. The process of CPGs development in Australian and New Zealand ED is unknown. We aim to describe this process in paediatric EDs and examine the feasibility of developing collaborative guidelines. ⋯ Paediatric EDs expend significant resources to develop CPGs. Collaborative guidelines would likely decrease duplication of effort and increase the number of available, current and evidence-based CPGs.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2009
How would Australian hospital staff react to an avian influenza admission, or an influenza pandemic?
To estimate the expected staff absentee rates and work attitudes in an Australian tertiary hospital workforce in two hypothetical scenarios: (i) a single admission of avian influenza; and (ii) multiple admissions of human pandemic influenza. ⋯ High absenteeism among hospital staff should be anticipated if patients are admitted with either avian or pandemic influenza, particularly if specific antiviral preventative measures are not immediately available. Measures to maximize the safety of staff and their families would be important incentives to attend work. Education on realistic level of risk from avian and pandemic influenza, as well as the effectiveness of basic infection control procedures and personal protective equipment, would be useful in improving willingness to work.