Nursing management (Harrow, London, England : 1994)
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'Exit block' describes situations when hospital staff cannot move patients out of emergency departments (EDs) into inpatient beds. According to the College of Emergency Medicine, it affects around half a million patients a year. To help managers and clinicians reduce crowding in their EDs, the college has produced a guideline that explains the causes and consequences of crowding and suggests ways of reducing the effects and improving safety in EDs. Crowding in Emergency Departments can be accessed online at tinyurl.com/exit-block NHS England and Monitor have endorsed the resource in their winter planning guidance.
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NHS Education for Scotland has, in collaboration with the Scottish Patient Safety Programme, made the national early warning score (NEWS) and sepsis screening tool available as a smartphone app. The app provides: a NEWS calculator to alert clinicians to deteriorating patients and acute illness; a sepsis screening tool for the prompt recognition and initiation of treatment of patients with sepsis; an outline of the Sepsis 6 care bundle; and an algorithm to help identify organ dysfunction, severe sepsis, septic shock and when to escalate care. Go to tinyurl.com/sepsis-screening to download the app.