Articles: emergency-department.
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Drug and alcohol review · Sep 2013
Comparative StudyA comparison of methods to identify alcohol involvement in youth injury-related emergency department presentation data.
The study aims to compare methods for identifying alcohol involvement in injury-related emergency department (ED) presentation in Queensland youth, and explore alcohol terminology used in triage text. ⋯ ED data are useful sources of information for identification of high-risk sub-groups to target intervention opportunities, though it is not a reliable source of data for incidence or trend estimation in its current unstandardised form. Improving the accuracy and consistency of identification, documenting and coding of alcohol involvement at the point of data capture in the ED is the most desirable long-term approach to produce a more solid evidence base to support policy and practice in this field.
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Geriatr Orthop Surg Rehabil · Sep 2013
Factors associated with emergency department length of stay for patients with hip fracture.
Time to surgery, which includes time in the emergency department (ED), is important for all patients with hip fracture. We hypothesized that patients with hip fracture spend significantly more time in the ED than do patients with the top 5 most common conditions. In addition, we hypothesized that there are patient, physician, and hospital factors that affect the length of time spent in the ED. ⋯ Factors significantly associated with longer ED times were a history of hypertension, history of atrial fibrillation, the number of computed tomography scans ordered, and the occupancy rate. Admission to the hip fracture service decreased working time but not overall time. Substantial multidisciplinary work among the ED, hospital admission services, and physicians is needed to dramatically decrease the boarding time and thus the overall time to surgery.
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Ann Fr Anesth Reanim · Sep 2013
[Evaluation of stress among emergency staff: Survey in a Tunisian emergency department.]
The objectives of this work were to make an inventory of the stress level, to detect various stressors and to describe the working conditions as perceived by staff to pinpoint the factors that might be changed. ⋯ This study could be used to show the importance of preventing this emotional exhaustion in order to improve the quality of health care providers but also the care given in this service.
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Pediatric emergency care · Sep 2013
Case ReportsSodium Channel Blockade With QRS Widening After an Escitalopram Overdose.
Escitalopram is rarely associated with prolongation of the QTc interval; however, there are no reported cases of QRS complex widening associated with escitalopram overdose. We report a case of a patient who presented with both QRS complex widening and QTc interval prolongation after an escitalopram overdose. ⋯ Both QRS complex widening and QTc interval prolongation should be monitored in cases of escitalopram and citalopram overdoses.
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False-positive peripheral blood cultures due to contamination pose clinical and financial consequences for patients, families, and hospitals. Educating staff who draw peripheral blood cultures about hospital policy, using a blood culture-drawing kit, having a dedicated team obtaining peripheral blood cultures, and following up with staff who draw a contaminated peripheral blood cultures have been shown to reduce the rate of false-positive peripheral blood cultures. The objective of this study was to reduce the rate of false-positive peripheral blood cultures in a pediatric emergency department using the previously mentioned measures. ⋯ The decline in contaminated blood cultures shows that the interventions described significantly reduced the rate of false-positive peripheral blood cultures in the emergency department.