Articles: emergency-department.
-
Pediatric emergency care · Nov 2014
Adult Patients in the Pediatric Emergency Department: Presentation and Disposition.
Pediatric emergency departments (PEDs) are intended to care for acutely ill and injured children. Adult patients sometimes present to these facilities as well. Some of these are young adults still under the care of pediatric specialists, but older adults and those not under the care of specialists may seek care and may challenge pediatric care providers. Understanding the spectrum of adult illness encountered in the PED may help ensure optimum care for this patient population. ⋯ Adult patients in PEDs are rare but have relatively high acuity and often require transfer. Pediatric emergency department clinicians should have adequate, ongoing training to capably assess and stabilize adult patients across a spectrum of illness presentation.
-
Emergency department observation units (EDOUs) represent an opportunity to efficiently manage patients with common conditions requiring short-term hospital care. Understanding which patients are ultimately admitted to the hospital after care in an EDOU may enhance patient selection for EDOU care. ⋯ Across the United States in 2009 to 2010, older patient age was a strong predictor of admission after EDOU care, suggesting that older patients are more likely to require inpatient hospital services after EDOU care than younger patients.
-
Pediatric emergency care · Nov 2014
Perspectives on Bullying Among Children Who Present to the Emergency Department With Behavioral Misconduct: A Qualitative Study.
The problem of bullying is an increasing public health threat encountered by emergency physicians especially in inner city emergency departments (EDs). Bullying may result in emotional disturbances and psychological trauma in children. Many children sent to the ED because of behavioral misconduct require immediate stabilization and treatment. The emergency physician performs an initial assessment and stabilization. Emergency departments are increasingly on the frontline of the bullying problem. ⋯ Our results provide insights into the perceptions of children regarding bullying. We have garnered a better understanding of what these children feel adults should do to prevent bullying.
-
Individual mentored career (K) awards made by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are an important way for medical researchers to develop their research skills. This study determined the number of individual mentored (K) awards awarded to emergency medicine (EM) faculty over a 6-year period and compared it with six other specialties. ⋯ Although success rates are reasonable, EM investigators submit very few individual mentored career development applications. They should take greater advantage of this mechanism to further their research training.
-
Hospital emergency departments (EDs) are as barometers of the health care system. Crowded EDs threaten delivery of timely care. Prolonged ED wait times reduce the quality of care and increase adverse and sometimes irreversible events. ⋯ Waiting time for commencement of clinical action in patients admitted to the EDs was considerably high for patients with higher priorities; so, rapid care of critically ill patients, identified during the triage process, should be emphasized.