Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
-
Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2023
Potential to be more effective: reduction in lower urgency emergency department presentations during the COVID-19 period in New South Wales, Australia.
Diverting lower urgency ED presentations to more suitable healthcare is a key goal of several healthcare systems. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there was a substantial drop in ED presentations in New South Wales (NSW), potentially because of lower risk of illness and injury through social restrictions, or ED avoidance for lower urgent care. The present study aimed to better understand the impact of social restrictions during the pandemic on ED presentations, to inform potential shifts to alternative modes of care in emergency medicine. ⋯ This finding suggests that reducing lower urgency ED presentation beyond the COVID-19 pandemic maybe feasible, by supporting alternative, more appropriate sources of care.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2023
Prolonged length of stay is associated with reduced hand hygiene compliance in the emergency department: A single centre retrospective study.
To examine whether patient flow factors in the ED such as prolonged length of stay are associated with hand hygiene (HH) compliance. ⋯ The findings show that prolonged ED length of stay may explain, at least partly, lower rates of HH compliance. Improvements in ED HH compliance should also include strategies that enhance patient flow.