Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Health care workers suffer higher rates of violence-related injuries than workers in other industries, with hospital security officers and ED personnel at particularly high risk for injury. Arming hospital security workers with conducted electrical weapons, such as tasers, has been suggested as an intervention to decrease violence-related injuries in the hospital. ⋯ Carrying conducted electrical weapons by hospital security staff appears to have limited capacity to decrease overall rates of violence-related injury but may decrease the severity of violence-related injuries. The latter could decease costs to health care organizations as well as morbidity of injured staff. Contribution to Emergency Nursing Practice.
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To identify and implement an evidence-based fall-risk assessment tool for use in emergency departments at Essentia Health, a large, primarily rural health care delivery system with 12 emergency departments. ⋯ The Iowa Model was a useful framework to select an evidence-based tool and then engage nurses in the process of implementing evidence-based practice changes in emergency departments across a diverse health care system serving a largely rural population. Ongoing follow-up will determine if this process results in fewer falls.
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Smoking is the single most avoidable risk factor for many health problems such as cardiovascular disease and pulmonary dysfunction. Emergency departments provide care for many patients who smoke. Patients who smoke and are discharged to home from emergency departments do not customarily receive smoking-cessation information. This project explored the feasibility and acceptability of a brief smoking-cessation intervention as part of emergency nursing practice. ⋯ Emergency nurses felt comfortable performing the smoking-cessation intervention, suggesting that training was effective. Data indicated that patients were consistently advised to quit smoking. Results suggest that brief smoking-cessation interventions are feasible and acceptable in emergency settings. The training and protocol could be used in other emergency departments, and lessons learned can guide future efforts by emergency nurses to help patients quit smoking.
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The Canadian C-Spine Rule (CCR) is a clinical decision aid to facilitate the safe removal of cervical collars in the alert, orientated, low-risk adult trauma patient. Few health care settings have assessed initiatives to train charge nurses to use the CCR. This practice improvement project conducted in a secondary trauma center in Canada aimed to (1) train charge nurses of the emergency room to use the CCR, (2) monitor its use throughout the project period, and (3) compare the assessments of the charge nurses with those of emergency physicians. ⋯ This project shows that the charge nurses of a secondary trauma center can use the CCR safely on alert, orientated, and low-risk adult trauma patients as demonstrated by the agreement in the assessments of emergency room nurses and physicians.
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Increasing numbers of people are seeking unscheduled medical care in United States' emergency departments, which contributes to delayed throughput and increased patient length of stay. Implementation of nurse-initiated protocols, such as those for throat pain, initiates early diagnostic testing, optimizes patient throughput strategies, and promotes adherence to clinic practice guidelines for an additional segment of patients. ⋯ Although this department has only partially implemented a protocol for throat pain, it highlights the benefits to reduce the number of patients that LWBS and reduce patient length of stay. The use of the protocol also improved adherence to clinical practice guidelines for testing and antibiotic prescribing.