Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Emergency departments have an important role in screening for human immunodeficiency virus infection and reducing the morbidity, mortality, and transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. There are debates about human immunodeficiency virus screening, including opt-in, opt-out, and active choice models. Previous studies have shown that multiple factors affect the patient rate of acceptance, including where, when, and by whom the screening is offered. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to test a team-based triage intervention to improve the amount of HIV testing done in our emergency department. ⋯ This process intervention, in which licensed practical nurses offered human immunodeficiency virus screening tests during team triage, resulted in a 3-fold increase in the percentage of patients being tested for human immunodeficiency virus.
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Emergency nurses experience multiple traumatizing events during clinical work. Early identification of work-related tension could lead to a timely intervention supporting well-being. We sought to discover whether there is an immediately measurable effect on emotional stress, as determined by changes between pre- and postshift survey scores, associated with exposure to traumatizing events during a single emergency nursing shift. ⋯ Our results suggest that repeated exposure to traumatizing events during a single clinical shift was associated with a measurable effect on negative emotional stress in emergency nurses as determined by ESRQ positive-negative balance scores.
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Sepsis, a life-threatening condition, can rapidly progress to death. The Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting program has implemented bundled care metrics for sepsis care, but timely completion of these interventions is challenging. Best-practice interventions could improve patient outcomes and reimbursement. The purpose of this project was to improve the timeliness of sepsis recognition and implementation of bundled care interventions in the emergency department. ⋯ When the nurse-driven protocol and communication tool were implemented, compliance with time-sensitive sepsis bundled interventions improved significantly. The outcomes suggest nurse-driven protocols can improve sepsis outcomes.
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Emergency departments increasingly treat patients for deliberate self-harm. This study sought to understand emergency department nursing leadership perspectives on how to improve the quality of emergency care for these patients. ⋯ Emergency department management of self-harm; Mental health care; Emergency nursing care.
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Because most primary health care centers in Oman do not use a formal triage system, there are no available data on the effectiveness of implementing this system. ⋯ Although this is a single-setting study, the results have shown that the Emergency Severity Index system can contribute to a decrease in the negative crowding outcomes in primary health care centers in Oman.