International emergency nursing
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Australian emergency nurses have a primary role in advanced airway management. Consequently, they need to be competent in, and have a systematic approach to, airway preparation, management and rescue. ⋯ Endotracheal intubation is a regular ED intervention. Emergency nurses need to have knowledge of airway management and rescue. A developed airway management algorithm and difficult airway equipment tray improved nursing confidence, expertise and response time in advanced airway interventions.
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Intravascular catheter-related infections are a major problem in healthcare. This review provides up-to-date guidance of evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections with special focus on strategies relevant for nurses working in emergency and critical care environments or practitioners responsible for surveillance and control of infections. The review concludes by providing a range of approaches advocated for: (i) translating guidelines to the needs and expectations of emergency and critical care nurses, and (ii) increasing the chance of successful implementation and compliance with these recommendations.
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Head and neck injuries following the road traffic crashes (RTCs) are the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in most developed and developing countries and may also result in temporary or permanent disability. ⋯ The present study findings provided an overview of head and neck injuries in Qatar from road traffic crashes. The incidence of head and neck injuries is still very high in Qatar, but the severity of injury was mild in most of the victims. The findings of the study highlighted the need for taking urgent steps for safety of people especially drivers and passengers.
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Within health care, there has been a change in practice from an illness-orientated service to one that is more health-focused and person-centred. The concept of person-centredness is frequently espoused by practitioners as being not only a desirable, but a necessary element of health care provision. Indeed, nationally and internationally, person-centred care has underpinned many healthcare documents and policies. ⋯ There is evidence to suggest that emergency nurses view their role as one, which is predominantly concerned with providing urgent physical care, rather than one, which espouses the theories of holistic healthcare. To this extent, being person-centred in the context of emergency care, requires the nurse to move beyond the traditional notions of his/her role and to embrace the more holistic aspects of patient care. The aim of this article is to critically analyse how a change in nurse-led triage training in one Irish Emergency Department facilitated an improved person-centred approach in practice.
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Comparative Study
An investigation comparing the Oxford Chair Technique with the traditional methods of glenohumeral dislocation reduction currently implemented.
This paper reports on the findings of a quantitative, retrospective service evaluation. It compared a new, conscious, sedation-free technique to reduce anterior glenohumeral dislocations with the traditional methods of reduction (TMR) currently implemented. ⋯ Overall, the success rate for reduction using the OCT was good in view of this being a new treatment to the ED. While the OCT had a lower success rate of reduction compared to TMR, when reduction was successful using the OCT, there were overwhelming time-saving benefits to the patient with subsequent logistical benefits to the ED. The use of conscious sedation and morphine was also significantly less for the OCT group compared to TMR.