Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2022
Gender equity in emergency medicine: Five years on, where are we headed?
The challenge of addressing gender inequality was highlighted in the 2016 Trainee Focus of Emergency Medicine Australasia. Despite increasing numbers of female medical graduates, including increasing female trainees in emergency medicine (EM), this has not yet translated to equal representation in formal leadership roles. Five years later, as the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) welcomes the second female college president, this article explores the gendered leadership gap in EM from an organisational and intersectional feminist perspective and recommends high-level strategies for change. ⋯ It has also achieved gender parity in provisional trainees and improved women's representation on the ACEM Board. However, broader organisational processes that ensure work-life integration, transparent leadership development pathways and equitable recruitment, promotion, retention and evaluation remain critical. Creating a local evidence-base to support diversity in leadership development remains a priority.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2022
Emergency department usage by adults with cerebral palsy: A retrospective cohort study.
To retrospectively profile the ED usage for a cohort of adults with cerebral palsy (CP). ⋯ The high rates of respiratory diagnoses and epilepsy/convulsions, both ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, may be indicative of transitional challenges between paediatric and adult healthcare, potentially highlighting difficulties in accessing primary care services. Relatively low rates of 'low urgency' presentations may suggest perceived medical fragility in this vulnerable population. People with CP who present to ED and were not admitted may be underrepresented in this data. National expansion of this research will aid the development of an evidence-based model of care for CP in Australia.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2022
Observational StudyHigher quality of care in emergency departments with physiotherapy service models.
To investigate the quality of care provided by EDs with physiotherapy services compared to those without, using established musculoskeletal process and outcome quality indicators (QIs). ⋯ EDs with physiotherapists provide at least equivalent or higher quality of care for patients with musculoskeletal injuries than those EDs with limited access to physiotherapists. This may be because of their specialised training in musculoskeletal diagnosis and treatment, as well as the impact of teaching and mentoring for other ED clinicians.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2022
Chlorhexidine skin cleaning to reduce clean-catch urine contamination in infants: A pilot study.
Clean-catch urine (CCU) samples are frequently contaminated. Our aim was to determine if cleaning with 0.1% chlorhexidine before CCU is a safe and feasible method to reduce contamination. ⋯ Cleaning with chlorhexidine solution before CCU is safe and feasible.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2022
Retrospective identification of latent subgroups of emergency department patients: A machine learning approach.
This research aims to (i) identify latent subgroups of ED presentations in Australian public EDs using a data-driven approach and (ii) compare clinical, socio-demographic and time-related characteristics of ED presentations broadly using the subgroups. ⋯ Clustering Large Applications is effective in finding latent groups in large-scale mixed-type data, as demonstrated in the present study. Six types of ED presentations were identified and described using clinically relevant characteristics. The present study provides evidence for policy makers in Australia to develop alternative ED models of care tailored around the care needs of the differing groups of patients and thereby supports the sustainable delivery of acute healthcare.