INTRODUCTION Caring for dying patients is part of working in a rural emergency department. Rural emergency nurses are prepared to provide life-saving treatments but find there are barriers or obstacles to providing end-of-life (EOL) care. This study was completed to discover the size, frequency, and magnitude of obstacles in providing EOL care in rural emergency departments as perceived by rura...

Aims and method We aimed to estimate the proportion of UK emergency departments with a psychiatric assessment room and to determine whether such rooms met criteria for conducting high-risk assessments. Liaison psychiatry services were asked whether their hospital had such a room, whether it met the criteria and whether respondents judged it to be sufficiently safe and private. Results Of the 60...

BACKGROUND Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding is an important healthcare issue facing increasing public and regulatory scrutiny in Canada and around the world. Many approaches to alleviate excessive waiting times and lengths of stay have been studied. In theory, optimal ED patient flow may be assisted via balancing patient loads between EDs (in essence spreading patients more evenly through...

BACKGROUND Information technology may improve patient safety, and is a focus of health care reform. A minority of emergency departments (EDs) in Massachusetts, and in academic EDs throughout the US, have electronic health records. AIMS Assess health information technology adoption in a nationwide sample of EDs. METHODS We surveyed 69 US EDs, asking site investigators about the availability ...

Recently there has been increased discussion on the overcrowded conditions in many of California’s emergency departments. A recent article published in the Western Journal of Medicine details the result of a comprehensive survey among directors of California EDs. Over 96% reported episodic overcrowding in EDs and some reported nearly daily overcrowding. The results are also similar to that cond...

OBJECTIVE To describe the management of acute diarrhea in emergency departments with emphasis on the type of hydration and exploring factors associated with prescription of oral rehydration therapy vs. intravenous rehydration therapy for children with dehydration that is not severe. METHODS This was a descriptive study conducted from January to May of 2008 observing case management of childre...

BACKGROUND Emergency Department (ED) is considered to be the heart of a hospital. Based on many studies, a well-organized physical environment can enhance efficacy. OBJECTIVES In this study, we aimed to investigate the influence of physical environment in EDs on efficacy. MATERIALS AND METHODS This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted via the faculty members of the ED and resident...