Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
ReviewReview article: A primer for clinical researchers in the emergency department: Part XII. Sustainability of improvements in care: An introduction.
Despite an increased focus on ways to improve implementation of evidence and de-implementation of practices with no known benefit, there is limited guidance on how to sustain these improvements. This review provides an introduction to sustainability of improvements in care and sustainability research, discussing how to support sustainability in practice and detailing a sustainability research agenda for the emergency medicine setting.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
ReviewReview article: Roles of activities of daily living and frailty assessments for residents of residential aged care services in emergency department transfers: A scoping review.
Residents from residential aged care services (RACS) (i.e. nursing homes) many of whom are frail or disabled, are frequently transferred to ED for treatment of acute episodes of illness or injury. This review scoped the research related to the ways in which frailty or activities of daily living (ADL) measures are used for clinical purposes, either prior to the transfer of patients to ED or in ED themselves. A search for original studies up to June 2021 that included participants aged 65 years or over was conducted across four databases. ⋯ No results were found that associated the assessment of ADL or frailty with decisions related to treatment in the ED. A single ED study involved specialist emergency nursing in an ED as an intervention which included frailty assessment and led to decreased hospitalisation. This scoping review confirms an opportunity for further research into the ways frailty and ADL assessments are used for decision making in relation to the transfer of frail older people to ED, including how these assessments influence their treatment.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPrevalence and predictors of poor outcome in children with febrile neutropaenia presenting to the emergency department.
Children with acquired neutropaenia due to cancer chemotherapy are at high risk of severe infection. The present study aims to describe the prevalence and predictors of poor outcomes in children with febrile neutropaenia (FN). ⋯ Very few patients with FN required ICU-level care. Vital signs, biomarkers and clinical sepsis scores for the prediction of poor outcomes are of limited utility in children with FN.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
Multicenter StudyExploring the use of virtual reality to manage distress in adolescent patients in emergency departments: A feasibility study.
The present study aimed to explore the feasibility and potential benefits of deploying virtual reality (VR) for adolescents in the ED. ⋯ VR technology can effectively be used in EDs to assist adolescents and young adults better manage their distress and take steps towards activating more self-control mechanisms that will in turn allow for more meaningful engagements to be established with health clinicians. This technology has broad implications for reducing distress in adolescents in a variety of clinical contexts.