Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Embedding medical student computer tutorials into a busy emergency department.
To explore medical students' use of computer tutorials embedded in a busy clinical setting; to demonstrate that such tutorials can increase knowledge gain over and above that attributable to the clinical rotation itself. ⋯ Medical students on rotation in a busy clinical setting can and will use appropriately presented computer tutorials. The tutorials are effective in raising examination scores.
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To explore attitudes surrounding exception from informed consent enrollment into research studies. In addition, the authors sought to determine the level of awareness of such an ongoing study among potential subjects, as defined by their presence in an emergency department (ED). ⋯ The overall awareness of an ongoing exception from informed consent trial after community consultation and notification was low. A population with potential for enrollment in such a study did not demonstrate a high degree of acceptance of such practices. There were differences among certain demographic groups in the degree of acceptance. These differences may guide institutional review boards and investigators in community-consultation strategies for future waiver of or exception from informed consent studies.
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Many emergency departments (EDs) have incorporated pain assessment scales in the medical record to improve compliance with the requirements of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The authors conducted a pre-post trial investigating the effects of introducing a templated chart on the documentation of pain assessments and the provision of analgesia to ED patients. ⋯ Although documentation is improved with a templated chart, this improvement did not translate into improved patient care.
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To assess a point-of-care (POC) urine trypsinogen (UT) test for the diagnosis of pancreatitis in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ A POC UT screening test for pancreatitis in the ED compared favorably with plasma lipase and amylase levels. Future studies should be performed to explore whether this test in the ED setting has better clinical utility than plasma lipase or amylase.