Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Patient acuity triage systems can play an important role in supporting patient safety and emergency department (ED) operations. In 2003, the boards of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) approved a joint statement calling for hospitals to adopt a reliable, valid, five-level triage scale such as the Emergency Severity Index (ESI). Still, there appears to be considerable variation in use of triage acuity systems in the United States, with many hospitals using three- and four-level systems that have not been validated. The purpose of this effort was to measure the use of various triage acuity systems in U.S. hospitals. ⋯ Among our sample of more than 3,000 hospitals, the ESI was the most commonly used triage system, and more patients were triaged using the ESI than any other triage acuity system. Still, there is an opportunity to further promote the adoption of validated, reliable triage systems.
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The benefits of mentorship for the protégé are well established and include increased career satisfaction, advancement, and income. Mentors can derive satisfaction from personal and professional networks within their institutions and specialties. However, the advantages of being a mentor are underreported in the medical literature. ⋯ Organizations enjoy worker longevity from both members of the partnership and benefit from the formation of networks. In the K-12 education model, master teachers who train novices are more likely to remain in the classroom or advance to an administrative role. Application of the principles from these disciplines to academic medicine is likely to produce similarly positive outcomes of personal satisfaction, collaboration, and academic and institutional advancement.