Experiences Of Emergency Nurses Research Articles

Health promotion in emergency care settings: investigating staff views and experiences.

Emergency departments (EDs) afford 'teachable moments' for health behaviour change, but staff may not see themselves as public health practitioners and it can be challenging to undertake health promotion activities in emergency care settings. Furthermore, the evidence on health promotion in these settings is limited. To investigate the views and experiences of emergency nurses and ambulance service paramedics regarding health promotion in emergency care settings. A convenience sample of emergency nurses (n=3) and ambulance service paramedics (n=3) was recruited. An inductive and descriptive qualitative study design using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was employed. The participants understood health promotion and were willing to have conversations about it with patients. However, they cited several barriers to health promotion, including understaffing, a lack of understanding of the relevance of health promotion among staff, a lack of training and information, and the sensitivity of topics such as body weight and sexual health. Lack of time was not cited as a barrier. There are opportunities for developing the health promotion aspect of practice in emergency care settings, where staff and patients would benefit from a more structured, system-wide approach to health promotion.

Nonurgent Pediatric Interhospital Transfers: A Narrative Enquiry of Nurses’ Experiences in Australia

IntroductionThis study aimed to explore nonurgent pediatric interhospital transfers through the lens of nurses’ experiences and perceptions when undertaking these transfers. MethodsUsing a narrative inquiry approach, data were collected via semistructured interviews with registered nurses (N = 7) who had experience undertaking patient transfers between nonurgent low-acuity and urgent high-acuity hospital settings. ResultsFindings established the following 8 themes: ensuring transfer preparation for risk mitigation, practicing confident advocacy, being accountable for risk mitigation of the deteriorating patient during transfer, maintaining standardized procedure, using training and mentorship to support confidence, maintaining interhospital and intrahospital relationships, recognizing the significance of transfer on families, and acknowledging the burden of transfer and delay. DiscussionBy exploring the stories and experiences of emergency nurses who undertake pediatric interhospital transfers, a deep investigation of the risks and challenges has been described, an area often underrepresented in the literature. Findings from this study highlight important learnings for pediatric interhospital transfer that add value to the wider body of evidence.

Experiences of Emergency Nurses in Carrying Out Triage During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the biggest challenges to health systems’ ability to continue to provide good medical services. The development of the Covid-19 pandemic has required all hospitals to be able to adapt quickly and precisely to ensure safe services for patients and staff. The emergency department is the main gate for receiving patients with various emergency cases, both positive and negative for Covid-19. During the pandemic, the emergency room has been crowded with patients with symptoms that point to Covid-19. The high number of patients is a stressor and a challenge for the staff. In this case, the triage procedure is key in determining the patient’s emergency condition and the intervention to be carried out. The ideal triage system should be standardized and reliable in its implementation to achieve clinical efficiency in determining treatment. This was a phenomenological qualitative study to explore the experience of emergency room nurses in conducting triage during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was conducted at the emergency department of the University of Muhammadiyah Malang Hospital with a total of 4 participants. Data collection was carried out by in-depth interviews. The interview process was conducted using an interview guide and a recording device. Based on the results, the following themes were obtained: 1) the triage method used was disaster triage with visual triage; 2) EWS screening of Covid-19 patients; 3) dishonesty of patients and family; 4) triage was not performed in a standardized way because of the condition of the hospital; 5) distancing of patients with Covid-19 from others; and 6) guilt when refusing patients.
 Keywords: triage, nurse, emergency room, pandemic

EXPERIENCE OF EMERGENCY NURSE IN PERFORMING CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION (CPR) ON PATIENT WITH CARDIAC ARREST

Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in several countries, both inside and outside the hospital. About 295,000 people die in the USA due to sudden cardiac arrest and around 900 Americans die every day from cardiac arrest. The deaths that occur in the out of hospital and in of hospital areas and only 7% -8% survived (7). One of the causes of death is unable to handle rapidly and correctly, especially in implementation of Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) as management of providing first aid and chain of survival. Based on phenomena occurs, nurses cannot perform their roles proper to standards frequently, this is illustrated when nurses are faced with patients with cardiac arrest in the Emergency Room (ER). The research is a qualitative phenomenological study using a phenomenological descriptive, conducted in the Emergency Room Installation Room (IGD) Sanglah Hospital Denpasar. It took six participants who determined by purposive sampling. Each participant was interviewed for 40–90 min uses interview guidelines, (filed note) and also Voice Recorder as research instrument. This study has five themes: (1). Understanding of emergency nurses about cardiac arrest, (2). Understanding of emergency nurses about cardiopulmonary resuscitation, (3). Experiences of emergency nurses in carrying out CPR in cardiac arrest patients, (4). Things that support emergency nurses in performing CPR in cardiac arrest patients, and (5). The obstacles that the emergency nurses found in doing CPR with theme limited man resources and facilities. Most of them described that the things that support emergency nurses in carrying out CPR on cardiac arrest patients are the resus call team, the existence of complete facilities and tools, and the existence of legal aspects and systems that support it. The obstacles felt by emergency nurses in conducting CPR on cardiac arrest patients resulted in sub-themes, limited human resources and limited facilities.
 Keywords: Emeregency Nursing; Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR);Cardiac Arrest

Emergency care practitioners’ knowledge, preparedness and experiences of managing COVID-19 in Australia

Introduction: Emergency care practitioners play a crucial role during public health emergencies and have been at the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the knowledge, preparedness and experiences of emergency nurses, emergency physicians and paramedics in managing COVID-19 in Australian healthcare settings.

A survey of emergency department staff's opinions and experiences of family presence during invasive procedures and resuscitation.

To identify the views and experiences of emergency nurses and doctors of the presence of family members during invasive procedures and resuscitation events. 84 staff members from three emergency departments in one UK trust responded to a paper-based 22-item questionnaire developed by the authors. Staff expressed positive views about family presence during such traumatic events, but also expressed non-evidenced concerns about negative aspects of family presence. Future research should focus on exploring the views of patients and their families in culturally diverse societies or across culturally different countries. Such data could underpin culturally sensitive policies to guide the practice of family presence and identify the education required to support successful development of such policies. Using simulation-based learning methodology integrated with existing advanced life-support/advanced trauma life-support training could support successful implementation of family presence policies.

Assessing for Occult Suicidality at Triage: Experiences of Emergency Nurses

IntroductionScreening for suicidality is a critical nursing function at the initial ED encounter. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, and a substantial percentage of people who die by suicide present for health care in the year before their deaths. The emergency department provides health care professionals with a critical opportunity to identify patients at risk for suicide and intervene appropriately. MethodsQualitative exploratory study using focus-group data. FindingsEffective and accurate suicidality assessment occurs not by asking a single question but also with the assessment of patient behaviors and presentation (appearance, hygiene, etc). When emergency nurses suspected occult suicidality, additional actions (finding private space, keeping patients safe, and passing on information), took priority. DiscussionThe Joint Commission recommends using clinical judgment tools for the final determination of safety for a patient at suspected risk of suicide, as research findings suggest that a screening tool can identify persons at risk for suicide more reliably than a clinician’s personal judgment. Our participants report that when they assessed suicide risk at triage, it was usually by asking a single question such as “Do you have thoughts or plans to harm yourself?” and they expressed concern about the effectiveness of doing so. Participants described their efforts to improve suicide screening across the duration of the patient’s ED stay through an iterative process of assessment that included further probing and eliciting, evaluating, and reacting to the patient’s response.Unlabelled Box

How nurses are preparing for the revalidation process.

As the profession's new system of revalidation goes live, this article brings together the experiences of emergency nurses from revalidation pilot sites in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A total of 19 sites across the UK, including hospital trusts, tested the process between 2014 and 2015. This gave these trusts the opportunity to prepare their staff and help them to get revalidation ready ahead of the official roll-out. This article aims to help nurses working in emergency departments better understand the process and offers tips for dealing with process issues which are pertinent to them.

When Someone Dies in the Emergency Department: Perspectives of Emergency Nurses

Emergency nurses work in a clinical area where treatment measures usually are provided quickly, and they have little time to establish relationships. In addition to performing life-saving interventions, emergency nurses provide care for patients who are dying. Little is known about the experiences of emergency nurses who care for patients who die in the emergency department in the Canadian context. This study used a qualitative design with an interpretive descriptive approach. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 ED nurses from a large Canadian academic health sciences system. In-depth analysis of the data resulted in 3 major themes: "It's not a nice place to die," "I see the grief," and "Needing to know you've done your best." Findings revealed that emergency nurses believed the environment made it difficult to care for dying patients and their families because of unpredictability, busyness, noise, lack of privacy, and the need to manage many patients simultaneously. These nurses were also put in the position of caring for the suddenly bereaved family members, which was viewed as an especially challenging aspect of their role. Caring for adults who die in the emergency department is a difficult and challenging aspect of the emergency nursing role. Emergency nurses believed they did their best to provide end-of-life care interventions, which brought a sense of professional satisfaction. Recommended future interventions include advocating for ED design and physical layout to support compassionate end-of-life care, provision of policies and training to support families and family presence, and support of nursing staff.

A moment in time: emergency nurses and the Canterbury earthquakes

To outline the impact of the Canterbury, New Zealand (NZ) earthquakes on Christchurch Hospital, and the experiences of emergency nurses during this time. NZ has experienced earthquakes and aftershocks centred in the Canterbury region of the South Island. The location of these, around and within the major city of Christchurch, was unexpected and associated with previously unknown fault lines. While the highest magnitude quake occurred in September 2010, registering 7.1 on the Richter scale, it was the magnitude 6.3 event on 22 February 2011 which was associated with the greatest injury burden and loss of life. Staff working in the only emergency department in the city were faced with an external emergency while also being directly affected as part of the disaster. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: This paper developed following interviews with nurses who worked during this period, and draws on literature related to healthcare responses to earthquakes and natural disasters. The establishment of an injury database allowed for an accurate picture to emerge of the injury burden, and each of the authors was present and worked in a clinical capacity during the earthquake. Nurses played a significant role in the response to the earthquakes and its aftermath. However, little is known regarding the impact of this, either in personal or professional terms. This paper presents an overview of the earthquakes and experiences of nurses working during this time, identifying a range of issues that will benefit from further exploration and research. It seeks to provide a sense of the experiences and the potential meanings that were derived from being part of this 'moment in time'. Examples of innovations in practice emerged during the earthquake response and a number of recommendations for nursing practice are identified.

Taking it to the streets: The experience of emergency nurses in the pre-hospital environment on the Gold Coast

Taking it to the streets: The experience of emergency nurses in the pre-hospital environment on the Gold Coast

Glastonbury: mud, sweat and tears

CHRISTIAN DUFFIN reports on the experiences of emergency nurses at one of Europe’s largest festivals

The handover process and triage of ambulance‐borne patients: the experiences of emergency nurses

One of the most important tasks that a nurse faces in the emergency room, when receiving a patient, is handover and the triage function. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of nurses receiving patients who were brought into hospital as emergencies by ambulance crews through an analysis of the handover and triage process. A qualitative descriptive interview study inspired by the phenomenological method was used with six emergency nurses. There are three elements to a handover: a verbal report, handing over documented accounts and the final symbolic handover when a patient is transferred from the ambulance stretcher onto the hospital stretcher. The study identified that the verbal communication between ambulance and emergency nurses was often very structured. The ideal handovers often involved patients with very distinct medical problems. The difficult handover or the 'non-ideal' one was characterized by a significantly more complicated care situation. The handover function was pivotal in ensuring that the patient received the correct care and that care was provided at the appropriate level. The most seriously afflicted patients arrived by ambulance; therefore, the interplay between pre-hospital and hospital personnel was vital in conveying this important information. To some extent, this functioned well, but this research has identified areas where this care can be improved.

ODs in the ED — A study of the experiences of emergency nurses caring for people who deliberately self-poison

ODs in the ED — A study of the experiences of emergency nurses caring for people who deliberately self-poison