Accident and emergency nursing
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As a consequence of the UK Department of Health drive to introduce the 4-h emergency care target acute trusts have attempted to initialize a myriad of programmes to improve the patients' experience in this sector. Changes to how patients are managed and the flow that they enter within the emergency care system have become a popular option. ⋯ The paper will explore the initial practical difficulties that were encountered. We will explore associated benefits for the RAPT approach including improved teamwork, better communication with the family, avoiding unnecessary duplication of work and discuss the benefits of having a direct referral process in place for emergency patients.
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As the most commonly recommended medication in the world, aspirin is a medication with which emergency nurses are intimately familiar. Although this medication has been used for more than a century, health-care researchers are discovering new information about the utility of aspirin every year. ⋯ As well, we highlight current research around optimal dosage and other issues related to aspirin administration. This review is timely as several issues have arisen in the literature, in relation to the effectiveness of aspirin as an anti-platelet agent.
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Emergency Departments (ED) are providing care for increasing numbers of patients who present as a result of criminal or interpersonal violence and patients may be victims, suspects or perpetrators. As a result, the role of emergency nurses in the recognition, collection and preservation of forensic evidence is increasing. ⋯ While it is well accepted that the primary focus of nursing care will always be the physical and emotional care of the patient, the increasing importance of the role of emergency nurses in the recognition and collection of forensic evidence in Victoria is now being recognized and the need for education of emergency nurses in this area understood. This paper reviews the literature related to the recognition, collection and preservation, of forensic materials in EDs by emergency nurses in the state of Victoria and discusses the role of emergency nurses in Victoria in caring for patients who present as victims of violence and in whom the collection and preservation of forensic evidence is required.
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The need for an effective system of child protection, which is able to detect children at risk of physical abuse, has never been more urgent. The level of reporting of non-accidental injury (NAI) in young children is lower than would be expected from official statistics, which means that Accident and Emergency (A and E) nurses and clinicians have a special responsibility to improve detection of possible abuse, in what has become a very challenging area of medicine. ⋯ We conclude that organisational changes, such as the creation of a shared national database and improved training for A and E staff so that they are aware of social as well as clinical risk factors, are needed to address the under-reporting of non-accidental injury in young children.
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To determine the incidence of death after arrival to one metropolitan emergency department (ED) for each triage code, day of arrival, diagnosis and length of stay. ⋯ Examination of ED mortality rate provides a deeper understanding of service utilisation and nursing staff work performance. Triage codes are beneficial in evaluating ED services, casemix, policies and quality assurance activities, but the application of this indicator to in-patient services appears limited.