Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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ED overcrowding is an issue that is affecting every emergency department and every hospital. The inability to maintain patient flow into and out of the emergency department paralyzes the ability to provide effective and timely patient care. Many solutions have been proposed on how to mitigate the effects of ED overcrowding. Solutions involve either hospital-wide initiatives or ED-based solutions. In this article, the authors seek to describe and provide metrics for a patient flow methodology that targets ESI 3 patients in a vertical flow model. ⋯ Implementation of a vertical patient flow strategy can decrease LOS for the vertical ESI 3 patients based upon the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Furthermore, this is accomplished with minimal financial investment within the physical constraints of an existing emergency department.