Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2020
Clinician-led design for optimising flow: Seizing the opportunity for a new-build Australian Emergency Department.
A new ED build creates a unique opportunity to improve the way we provide clinical care. Often, the focus is primarily on increasing clinical cubicle numbers but this may have a negligible, or even negative impact on care delivery. ⋯ This relationship between clinicians and architects should remain collaborative but requires re-alignment. Independent, expert ED-specific designers can empower and provide valuable support for clinician-led design teams in their interactions with architects.
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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.