Emergency nurse : the journal of the RCN Accident and Emergency Nursing Association
-
This article describes the wounding potential of pistol crossbows to prepare nurses who may have to provide immediate care for patients with injuries from these inexpensive and readily available weapons.
-
Most paediatric triage systems used in UK emergency departments (EDs) are adapted from adult tools. Paediatric-specific triage tools have been developed in Australia, Canada and the United States but there is no evidence of a similar tool in use in the UK despite support for its development. Staff at New Cross Hospital, in Wolverhampton, are involved in a project to develop a paediatric-specific triage tool that can be used in EDs, assessment units and walk-in centres throughout the UK. The tool has been piloted in the hospital's paediatric assessment unit already with some success, but is yet to be validated.
-
This article reviews an audit to assess how adequately emergency department (ED) staff can use with little training a modified Patient At Risk (mPAR) early warning score, and then identifies whether mPAR scores can be used in an ED to improve outcomes for 'GP lodgers' by alerting specialty doctors of their clinical priority earlier.