Australasian emergency nursing journal : AENJ
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With ever increasing demands on emergency services it is necessary to consider how to enhance the recruitment and retention of emergency nurses in public hospitals. Personality is known to influence occupational choice, yet there is a lack of research exploring how personality may influence the workforce decisions of emergency nurses. ⋯ The personality profile of this sample of emergency nurses is different to the population norm. Assessment of personality and knowledge of its influence on specialty selection may assist in improving retention and recruitment in emergency nursing.
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Australas Emerg Nurs J · Nov 2014
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyA comparison of emergency triage scales in triaging poisoned patients.
Triage of toxicology patients presents a challenge due to their complexity, underlying psychosocial issues, and additional pharmacological considerations. Two emergency department triage systems used in Australia, the Australasian Triage Scale (ATS) and the Manchester Triage System (MTS), were compared in triaging patients presenting with poisoning and envenoming. ⋯ When compared to the ATS, MTS gave a lower acuity triage score for all common and rarely encountered poisoning scenario groups, which included highly toxic ingestions that appear well at triage but may progress to severe poisoning. Triage nurses should refer to information on highly toxic exposures and envenomation guidelines during their triage risk assessment.
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Australas Emerg Nurs J · Nov 2014
Observational StudyThe emergency department prediction of disposition (EPOD) study.
Emergency departments (ED) continue to evolve models of care and streaming as interventions to tackle the effects of access block and overcrowding. Tertiary ED may be able to design patient-flow based on predicted dispositions in the department. Segregating discharge-stream patients may help develop patient-flows within the department, which is less affected by availability of beds in a hospital. We aim to determine if triage nurses and ED doctors can predict disposition outcomes early in the patient journey and thus lead to successful streaming of patients in the ED. ⋯ Triage nurses, ED consultants and ED registrars are able to predict a patient's discharge disposition at triage with high levels of confidence. Triage nurses, ED consultants, and ED registrars can predict patients who are likely to be admitted with equal ability. This data may be used to develop specific admission and discharge streams based on early decision-making in EDs by triage nurses, ED registrars or ED consultants.