Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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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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Influenza is highly contagious, vaccine-preventable, and may result in significant morbidity and mortality. While vaccination is the primary protection against influenza, vaccination rates remain low. Traditionally, primary care clinics, retail pharmacies, and public health departments offer influenza vaccines. However, offering influenza vaccines in new settings may increase their availability to the public and increase community uptake. This project aimed to add emergency departments as a new influenza vaccine location to increase the number of vaccines distributed during the 2020 to 2021 influenza season. ⋯ The project demonstrated that delivering influenza vaccinations in emergency departments is challenging yet achievable. Educational offerings were valuable resources to increase nurses' knowledge and positive attitudes about providing influenza vaccines to patients. Further studies regarding how vaccinations could be provided in more emergency departments and alternative care sites, such as urgent care and clinics other than primary care providers, are needed.
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The purpose of this quality improvement study was to reduce nonemergent visits to the emergency department attendance within a multistate Veterans Health Affairs network. ⋯ Telephone triage services augmented by virtual provider visits may reduce emergency department disposition rates, resulting in fewer nonemergent patient presentations to the emergency department and reducing unnecessary emergency department overcrowding. Reducing nonemergent attendance to emergency departments can improve outcomes for patients with emergent dispositions.
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The purpose of this quality improvement initiative was to educate emergency nurses and social workers about human trafficking and implement a human trafficking screening, management, and referral protocol adapted from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. ⋯ The care of human trafficking victims can be improved when emergency nurses and social workers can recognize red flags using a standard screening tool and protocol, thereby identifying and managing potential victims.