Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2011
Medical student/student doctor access to patients in an emergency department.
To determine the proportion of patients in a teaching hospital ED who are available to medical students; identify barriers to student access to patients; and determine whether patients are more likely to be accessible if the term student doctor is used rather than medical student. ⋯ A minimum 40% of patients in a tertiary ED are accessible for student learning, with high proportions of patients accepting of students practising supervised history-taking, physical examination, and most less-invasive procedural skills.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2011
Analgesic usage and reasons for emergency department attendance in ambulatory care patients with minor injury.
The aim of the present study was to determine the reasons for which patients with minor injury attend the ED, comparing those who have and have not self-administered analgesia. Secondary outcomes were to quantify the proportion of patients who present without having taken analgesia, to describe the reasons why analgesia was not taken, and to compare pain scores between the two groups. ⋯ The majority of patients who attend ED with minor injury have not taken analgesia. They come primarily for diagnosis and treatment, and often believe that their condition is too urgent to stay at home and take analgesia. Pain is usually not their main concern.