Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
-
Most nurses experience some form of workplace violence resulting in a stressful work environment, employee injury, and turnover. The aims of this project were to develop and evaluate strategies to improve the reporting of workplace violence as well as to empower emergency nurses to prevent assaults and protect themselves. ⋯ This study was consistent with the literature in that emergency nurses often do not report workplace assaults. Most of the emergency nurses surveyed had been assaulted. Although the educational interventions did not achieve the desired outcome, it is clear that additional interventions for individual nurses and institutions need to be developed and refined to increase reporting and prevent workplace assaults.
-
The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA) is an assessment tool that has been validated to predict violent or aggressive behavior in psychiatric inpatient settings. Its validity has not been established for use in the emergency department. ⋯ The DASA has predictive validity for use in evaluating behavioral health patients in the ED setting in an urban academic medical center. The tool is capable of predicting violence or aggression within a time frame conducive to the implementation of noninvasive measures. The DASA should be tested in other ED settings to further establish its predictive validity.
-
This study was conducted to determine the pediatric forensic case type and demographic characteristics of patients presenting to the emergency department. ⋯ The study results have implications for nurses and health professionals to increase awareness of high-risk groups and diagnoses. This evidence can be used to inform standard protocols and education programs about pediatric forensic cases in emergency care.
-
Intimate partner violence is a serious public health issue that can be addressed through identification and early intervention. Although screening for intimate partner violence in health care settings is recommended by medical and nursing organizations, it is underperformed. The project objectives were to increase intimate partner violence screening rates, identification, and the referrals/resources provided. ⋯ This project demonstrates that nurse training along with a computer prompt intervention and standard referral process can contribute to intimate partner violence identification and the referrals/resources provided to the patients. Ultimately, the patients exposed to partner violence may benefit from increased identification and delivery of the referrals/resources.