Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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To assess the ability of rural Australian nurse teams to manage deteriorating patients. ⋯ Despite a satisfactory knowledge base, the application of knowledge was low with notable performance deficits in these demanding and stressful situations. The identification and management of patient deterioration needs to be taught in professional development programmes incorporating high fidelity simulation techniques. The Team Emergency assessment tool proved to be a valid measure of team performance in patient deterioration scenarios.
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Acute central nervous system (CNS) infections, such as meningitis and encephalitis, are neurological emergencies for which accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment improve the outcome. Analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained at lumbar puncture (LP) is pivotal to establishing the diagnosis and guiding management. PCR analysis of the CSF is an important method to identify the pathogen. However, recent studies have demonstrated that many patients have inadequate CSF sample collection and analysis. ⋯ This study has demonstrated that the introduction of a simple low-cost LP pack into a busy acute medical setting can improve the diagnosis of CNS infections and, thus, guide treatment. Further work is needed to see if these results are more widely reproducible, and to examine the clinical, health and economic impact on overall management of patients with suspected CNS infections.
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As a result of gaps in middle-grade cover in the emergency department it became necessary for consultants to work some night shifts. This study aimed to examine the effect of this change in practice on performance. ⋯ In this small single-site study, a consultant working nights has been shown to reduce process times and the rate of admission. It remains unclear whether such improvements would be sustained in the longer term.
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Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media networks for communication between users via short messages. Technology proficient physicians have demonstrated enthusiasm in adopting social media for their work. ⋯ Only a small proportion of registered emergency physicians use Twitter. Among them exists a smaller inner network of emergency physicians with strong social bonds that is using Twitter's full potentials for professional development.