Annals of emergency medicine
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Editorial Comment
Customer satisfaction versus patient safety: have we lost our way?
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Review Comparative Study
Management of emergency department patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax: needle aspiration or tube thoracostomy?
The emergency management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax is controversial. This evidence-based emergency medicine review evaluates the existing evidence about the efficacy and safety of needle aspiration in comparison to tube thoracostomy for management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. ⋯ The existing evidence indicates that needle aspiration is at least as safe and effective as tube thoracostomy for management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Additionally, needle aspiration carries the benefit of fewer hospital admissions and shorter length of hospital stay.
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Emergency department patient preferences for boarding locations when hospitals are at full capacity.
Admitted patients are frequently boarded in emergency departments (EDs) when hospitals are at full capacity, which lessens the ED's ability to treat new patients. One alternative is to board admitted patients in inpatient hallways. We assess ED patient preferences for boarding location. ⋯ When hospitals are at full capacity, patients would rather board in inpatient hallways than ED hallways.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
The emergency department occupancy rate: a simple measure of emergency department crowding?
We examine the validity of the emergency department (ED) occupancy rate as a measure of crowding by comparing it to the Emergency Department Work Index Score (EDWIN), a previously validated scale. ⋯ The ED occupancy rate and the EDWIN classified leaving without being seen and ambulance diversion hours with moderate accuracy. Although the ED occupancy rate is not ideal, its simplicity makes real-time assessment of crowding feasible for more EDs nationwide.