Articles: emergency-department.
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Comparative Study
Scope of Practice and Autonomy of Physician Assistants in Rural Versus Urban Emergency Departments.
This was a study of the scope of practice and autonomy of emergency medicine (EM) physician assistants (PAs) practicing in rural versus urban emergency departments (EDs). ⋯ Rural PAs reported a broader scope of practice, more autonomy, and less access to physician supervision than urban PAs.
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Drug and alcohol review · May 2014
Comparative StudyChanges in injury-related hospital emergency department presentations associated with the imposition of regulatory versus voluntary licensing conditions on licensed venues in two cities.
Regulatory and collaborative intervention strategies have been developed to reduce the harms associated with alcohol consumption on licensed venues around the world, but there remains little research evidence regarding their comparative effectiveness. This paper describes concurrent changes in the number of night-time injury-related hospital emergency department presentations in two cities that implemented either a collaborative voluntary approach to reducing harms associated with licensed premises (Geelong) or a regulatory approach (Newcastle). ⋯ The data suggest that mandatory interventions based on trading hours restrictions were associated with reduced emergency department injury presentations in high-alcohol hours than voluntary interventions.
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Home oxygen has been incorporated into the emergency department management of bronchiolitis in high-altitude settings. However, the outpatient course on oxygen therapy and factors associated with subsequent admission have not been fully defined. ⋯ There is a significant outpatient burden associated with home oxygen use. Although fever was associated with admission, we were unable to identify predictors that could modify current protocols.
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Clinical pediatrics · May 2014
Treatment of skin and soft tissue infections in a pediatric observation unit.
To report the success rate of observation unit (OU) treatment of pediatric skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) and to see if we could identify variables at the time of initial evaluation that predicted successful OU treatment. ⋯ Our findings suggest that successful OU treatment is possible in a large group of patients needing hospitalization for SSTIs. Consideration of infection location may assist the emergency department clinician in determining the most appropriate unit for admission.
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Neuromuscular paralysis without sedation is an avoidable medical error with negative psychologic and potentially physiologic consequences. We determine the frequency of long-acting paralysis without concurrent sedation among patients intubated in our emergency department (ED) or before arrival. ⋯ Absence of concurrent sedation was common among patients receiving long-acting neuromuscular paralysis before arrival or at our ED, despite implementation of a guideline to improve practice.