The Nursing clinics of North America
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Emergency nurses are actively involved in primary, secondary, and tertiary pediatric injury prevention activities. This article outlines the steps that emergency nurses can take to identify common pediatric injuries treated in the Emergency Departments and integrate existing and evolving injury prevention resources into their repertoire of nursing skills. Research and demonstration projects conducted by emergency physicians, nurses, and prehospital care providers are highlighted.
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Nurs. Clin. North Am. · Mar 2002
ReviewThe Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act: what emergency nurses need to know.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal statute that should be recognized and understood by all nurses who work in an emergency department or other settings where patients with potential emergencies may present themselves for care. It is a law that imposes specific legal requirements on hospitals in terms of medical screening, stabilization, and transfer of patients, regardless of whether they are outpatients or inpatients. As agents of the hospital, nurses are responsible for maintaining compliance with EMTALA regulations. This article reviews the components of EMTALA and the ways in which they are applied to clinical nursing practice.
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Assessing emergency nursing competence is an ongoing issue for emergency clinical nurse specialists (CNS), educators, and other members of the leadership team. Validation of emergency nurses' competency is not only required by regulatory agencies, but common sense tells people that they need to know that nurses can safely care for patients. Strategies for evaluating and improving emergency nursing competence based on the author's experience are discussed in this article.
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Nurs. Clin. North Am. · Mar 2002
Disaster management and the emergency department: a framework for planning.
Recent changes in the Joint Commission Accrediting Hospital Organization (JCAHO) Environment of Care standards are forcing hospitals to revisit their disaster planning process. Emergency Management, a process that is familiar to municipal and industry planners is now part of hospital disaster planning. A framework for making the necessary changes to the hospital disaster plan is presented. Examples of tools that might be useful in the planning process are also included.
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Developing and maintaining the competence emergency nurses need is an important function of emergency clinical nurse specialists (CNS), educators, and other members of the emergency department (ED) leadership team. A thorough orientation is the first and most important step in developing the competence of emergency nurses. ⋯ This article focuses on the orientation of emergency nurses. A related article in this issue addresses assessment of competency.