Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Review
The Experience of Families Accompanying a Senior to the Emergency Department: A Scoping Review.
Seniors are often accompanied by a family member to the emergency department. Families advocate for their needs and contribute to the continuity of care. However, they often feel excluded from care. To improve the quality and safety of care for seniors, it is necessary to consider the experience of families in the emergency department. The aim was to identify and synthesize the available scientific literature dealing with the experience of families accompanying a senior to the emergency department. To identify and synthesize the available scientific literature dealing with the experience of families accompanying a senior to the emergency department. ⋯ The experience of families of seniors in the emergency department is multifactorial and part of a trajectory of care and health services.
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Review
Rethinking Traditional Emergency Department Care Models in a Post-Coronavirus Disease-2019 World.
As the nursing shortage in United States emergency departments has drastically worsened since the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, emergency departments have experienced increased rates of inpatient onboarding, higher rates of patients leaving without being seen, and declining patient satisfaction scores. This paper reviews the impacts of the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic on the current nursing shortage and considers how various medical personnel (emergency nurse-extenders) can ameliorate operational challenges by redesigning emergency department systems. ⋯ Health care workers who can be trained to augment the existing emergency department workforce include paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians, emergency department technicians, ancillary staff, scribes, and motivated health sciences students. Utilizing non-nurse providers to fulfill tasks traditionally assigned to emergency nurses can improve emergency department flow and care delivery in a post-coronavirus disease-2019 world.
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Violence risk assessment is commonplace in mental health settings and is gradually being used in emergency care. The aim of this review was to explore the efficacy of undertaking violence risk assessment in reducing patient violence and to identify which tool(s), if any, are best placed to do so. ⋯ There is a paucity of high-quality evidence evaluating the psychometric properties of violence risk assessment tools currently used along the emergency care pathway. Multiple tools exist, and they could have a role in reducing violence in emergency care. However, the limited testing of their psychometric properties, acceptability, feasibility, and usability in emergency care means that it is not possible to favor one tool over another until further research is conducted.
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Workplace violence is not a unique problem to organizations. Evidence-based toolkits and strategies are available to help provide a guiding framework for the reduction of workplace violence events. As times and stressors (both personal and environmental) change, hospitals must keep constant attention on how to address and implement initiatives to keep staff safe. This manuscript addresses steps taken at 1 hospital to meet this challenge. ⋯ Workplace violence is not part of the job. Ongoing work is needed to continue to move the needle and make hospitals a safer place to work. Engagement from all levels of the organization is necessary to have a successful program.