Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Every day many admitted patients wait in emergency departments for available beds or for a receiving nurse to accomplish a transfer to an inpatient bed. The purpose of this study was to examine critical care patients' length of stay and time held in the emergency department once admitted to determine if (1) holding critical care patients in emergency departments after admission was related to skilled nursing shortages and/or limitations in available resources and (2) admission orders or tests may have been overlooked during this time. Little or no literature exists on this topic. ⋯ Further study is necessary to determine whether patients' length of stay in the hospital is increased because of delays in plans of care and if patient outcomes are ultimately affected.