Journal of trauma nursing : the official journal of the Society of Trauma Nurses
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The Emergency Preparedness Committee in the emergency department at a Level I Trauma Center identified a knowledge gap related to hazardous materials and items (Hazmat) incidents and their associated decontamination procedures. This led to the development of a "user-friendly" resource guide for key staff, specifically charge nurses, to utilize during Hazmat situations. Implementing this reference book has significantly increased the number of identified Hazmat incidents. The staff members involved have utilized the reference book to effectively guide them through the Hazmat incidents.
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Health care reform and legislation of restricted resident work hours lead to the evaluation and the changes in health care delivery. In the early 1990s, the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner role evolved to fill the care gaps created by these changes. ⋯ With few role models, the responsibility of integration is left in the hands of novice NPs, hospital administrators, or physician colleagues. The purpose of this article was to outline orientation, implementation, and evaluation strategies to optimize the transition of trauma NP into the inpatient setting.
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To discover new experience-based clinical and care delivery knowledge learned in the Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones, 107 Air Force, Army, and Navy nurses were interviewed. Eight areas of experiential knowledge were identified in the new care delivery system that featured rapid transport, early trauma and surgical care, and expeditious aeromedical evacuation: (1) organizing for mass casualties, (2) uncertainty about incoming casualties, (3) developing systems to track patients, (4) resource utilization, (5) ripple effects of a mass casualty event, (6) enlarging the scope of nursing practice, (7) operating medical facilities under attack, and (8) nurse emotions related to mass casualties.
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The purpose of this study was to the examine the effects of family-witnessed resuscitation (FWR) in patients experiencing trauma from motor vehicle crashes and gunshot wounds prior to hospitalization. Family members of 33 patients (motor vehicle crashes: n = 19, 57%; gunshot wounds: n = 14, 43%) participated in this study. Within 1 to 2 days after admission to critical care, families who witnessed resuscitation and those who did not witness resuscitation were asked to participate. ⋯ Results indicated that scores for family resources, coping, problem-solving communication, and well-being were no different in families who witnessed resuscitation compared with those who did not witness resuscitation prior to hospitalization in this study. The effects of FWR during the prehospital time period are not detrimental to family members. Further research needs to be conducted to examine the effects of FWR.