Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2020
Repeated presentation of children and adolescents to the emergency department following self-harm: A retrospective audit of hospital data.
To examine re-presentation rates for self-harm in patients aged 0-18 years to the ED of a tertiary paediatric hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and associated patient, family and hospital presentation factors. ⋯ In this paediatric ED, almost one in four patients re-presented with self-harm within 12 months. Previous presentations and other factors were associated with risk of re-presenting, although no factor was strongly predictive. Future research might examine the generalisability of these findings across settings and explore strategies for prevention.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2020
ReviewReview article: Prevalence of burnout in paramedics: A systematic review of prevalence studies.
Paramedic wellness is an increasing priority within the profession. Burnout has been described as having areas of 'emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment'. Prevalence of burnout is unclear, hampering evaluation of protective initiatives. ⋯ Included studies were of low to moderate quality. The prevalence of burnout in paramedics varies from 16% to 56%. Existing evidence describing burnout in paramedics is weak; research of good methodological rigour is needed to quantify prevalence of burnout, providing a reliable baseline against which protective interventions could be measured.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2020
When a health policy cuts both ways: Impact of the National Emergency Access Target policy on staff and emergency department performance.
To explore the impact of the Four-Hour Rule/National Emergency Access Target (4HR/NEAT) on staff and ED performance. ⋯ There was strong evidence of an association between high stress and low morale and the implementation of the 4HR/NEAT across all levels of performance. These adverse consequences of the 4HR/NEAT implementation indicate that a more nuanced approach to efficiency improvements is required. This would balance processes measured by 4HR/NEAT against a range of other clinical and organisational performance measures.