Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
-
ED pain score reassessment and documentation rates were drastically low according to sampled data from the St. Margaret Hospital Emergency Department, leading to difficult pain management encounters for clinicians. The purpose of this project was to improve pain score reassessment rates in ED patients who were discharged with extremity pain. ⋯ Implementing daily audits and weekly newsletters that created transparency of individual and group performances increased pain score reassessment and documentation rates.
-
Febrile neutropenia is one of the most severe oncological emergencies associated with the treatment of cancer. Patients with febrile neutropenia are at grave risk of developing life-threatening sepsis unless there is rapid initiation of treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of ED care of patients with febrile neutropenia using the 3 quality dimensions of safety, effectiveness, and timeliness of care. ⋯ Aspects of care provided to this cohort of febrile neutropenia patients were inconsistent with the recommended evidence. Strengthening ED care is necessary to reduce the gap between evidence-based and actual care. Quality initiatives can be implemented to improve care to become safer, effective, and timely. Nurses who are in direct contact with the patients and who are actively involved in every single process of the health care system are well positioned to lead this change.
-
Patient satisfaction is an important factor that influences the perceived quality of care delivered. In an effort to meet patient expectations, a process improvement initiative involving hourly rounding was implemented to improve low patient satisfaction scores. ⋯ There is a positive relationship between hourly rounding and patient satisfaction scores. Despite low compliance with hourly rounding, patient satisfaction increased for all 3 variables measured. To achieve a change in culture with hourly rounding compliance, nurse managers must consistently monitor staff compliance with hourly rounding.
-
The physical layout of the emergency department affects the way in which patients and providers move within the space and can cause substantial changes in workflow and, therefore, affect communication patterns between providers. There is no 1 ED design that enables the best patient care, and quantitative studies looking at ED design are limited. The goal of this study was to examine how different ED designs, centralized and decentralized, are associated with communication patterns among health care professionals. ⋯ Our findings suggest that the ED design affects communication patterns among health care providers and that the design has the potential to affect the quality of patient care.