RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Emergency Departments around the world are under increasing pressure due to rising demand. In the United Kingdom ambulatory emergency care has been demonstrated to deliver safe and effective care for emergency patients and has now become an accepted treatment modality. METHODS: This paper outlines a quality improvement project undertaken to evaluate an ambulatory emergency care centre implemented at a tertiary hospital in Perth, Western Australia, from February to August 2021. RESULTS: The findings demonstrated a 4% improvement in the Western Australian Emergency Access Target for a four week period, a 6.3% reduction in the number of patients admitted with a length of stay less than 24 h and that patient's attending the Ambulatory Emergency Care Centre were managed as safely as if they were seen in the Emergency Department.
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Servicios Médicos de Urgencia , Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital , Australia , Humanos , Centros de Atención Terciaria , Australia OccidentalRESUMEN
This paper outlines a study that was undertaken to investigate the different nurse education service models being utilised in acute care metropolitan hospitals across Australia with a view to make recommendations for future nurse education service delivery within healthcare organisations. This research study used a mixed methods approach comprising three phases. Phase one involved interviews and focus groups with nurse educators at one tertiary teaching hospital in Perth, Western Australia (WA). Phase two involved focus groups and interviews with nurse educators and coordinators of nurse education services in acute care metropolitan hospitals in W.A. Phase three of the study consisted of the development of a survey tool from the findings of the previous phases and a national survey of nurse educators in acute care metropolitan hospitals across Australia. The findings of this study demonstrate that a centralised nurse education service model undertakes more functions than, and delivers significant advantages over, the decentralised and combination models.
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Atención a la Salud/métodos , Docentes de Enfermería/normas , Hospitales Urbanos/normas , Desarrollo de Personal , Educación en Enfermería , Grupos Focales , Humanos , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Australia OccidentalRESUMEN
This commentary paper highlights the issue of child abuse and the important role that nursing staff working in the Emergency Department (ED) can play in halting the cycle of abuse. Child abuse is a worldwide problem that is occurring with increasing frequency. In fact, in Australia over the last 5 years the number of child protection referrals has more than doubled. As well as the immediate physical damage child abuse causes, it can also escalate to result in more serious injury and death. Furthermore, children who are abused in their early years of life are at increased risk of a range of adverse long-term developmental problems. Research has demonstrated that there is a significant lack of detection of suspected cases of child abuse in the ED. In fact the true incidence of children presenting to hospital EDs with abuse is difficult to determine, and many cases remain undetected. Nursing staff are perfectly positioned to detect the signs that a child may be at risk of abuse. However, in order to identify these signs it is essential that ED nurses have the knowledge and skills necessary to do so. Failure to consider the possibility of abuse will mean that the appropriate diagnosis is not made and the child is returned to an abusive environment. Therefore, this paper offers ED nurses recommendations for future directions in research and interventions to improve the detection of child abuse in Western Australia.