Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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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.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2020
Observational StudyEmergency healthcare delivery for young adults during a planned mass gathering: A retrospective observational study.
To describe patient presentation characteristics and outcomes for people aged 16-18 years pre, during and post a planned youth mass gathering event (MGE): 'Schoolies week' on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. ⋯ Establishment of an in-event model of care for 1 week during Schoolies served as an effective hospital avoidance strategy for a planned youth MGE. Such in-event models of care may be considered for other similar future MGE.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2020
Observational StudyPatients with life-limiting illness presenting to the emergency department.
To examine characteristics, outcomes and flow for patients over the age of 45 years with a life-limiting illness (LLI) presenting to a regional ED. ⋯ A significant proportion of patients 45 years or older had an LLI which had implications for their length of ED stay and discharge destination.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2020
Comparison of the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset to medical records for emergency presentations for acute cardiovascular conditions and unspecified chest pain.
The Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) collects administrative and clinical data for all presentations to Victorian public ED. The present study aimed to examine the level of agreement between the VEMD data and the medical record for a sample of patients coded as having acute cardiovascular conditions (acute coronary syndrome, stroke and transient ischaemic attack [TIA]) and unspecified chest pain in the VEMD. ⋯ When compared to the medical record, our data suggest there is likely variation in the accuracy of some VEMD items, and suggests a larger prospective validation of the VEMD is warranted. For researchers using existing VEMD data, combining of some codes may be necessary.