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Nurses are bound by the Nursing and Midwifery Council code of conduct (2008) to deliver care based on the best available evidence, which involves a combination of clinical expertise and [...]

The following episode of patient care as found by the principal author to be a personal and professional challenge. After an in-depth analysis however, the author has enhanced her knowledge [...]

PUBLIC REPORTING ON performance and quality improvement is increasingly recognized as a professional and institutional priority. Performance measures are an essential component of both of these activities. These measures allow [...], BACKGROUND. Performance measures are essential components of public reporting and quality improvement. To date, few such measures exist to provide a comprehensive assessment of the quality of emergency department services for children. OBJECTIVES. Our goal was to use a systematic process to develop measures of emergency department care for children (0-19 years) that are (1) based on research evidence and expert opinion, (2) representative of a range of conditions treated in most emergency departments, (3) related to links between processes and outcomes, and (4) feasible to measure. METHODS. We presented a panel of providers and managers data from emergency department use to identify common conditions across levels of patient acuity, which could be targets for quality improvement. We used a structured panel process informed by a literature review to (1) identify condition-specific links between processes of care and defined outcomes and (2) select indicators to assess these process-outcome links. We determined the feasibility of calculating these indicators using an administrative data set of emergency department visits for Ontario, Canada. RESULTS. The panel identified 18 clinical conditions for indicator development and 61 condition-specific links between processes of care and outcomes. After 2 rounds of ratings, the panel defined 68 specific clinical indicators for the following conditions: adolescent mental health problems, ankle injury, asthma, bronchiolitis, croup, diabetes, fever, gastroenteritis, minor head injury, neonatal jaundice, seizures, and urinary tract infections. Visits for these conditions account for 23% of all pediatric emergency department use. Using an administrative data set, we were able to calculate 19 indicators, covering 9 conditions, representing 20% of all emergency department visits by children. CONCLUSIONS. Using a structured panel process, data on emergency department use, and literature review, it was possible to define indicators of emergency department care for children. The feasibility of these indicators will depend on the availability of high-quality data. www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2005-3029 doi:10.1542/peds.2005-3029 Key Words emergency department, performance measures, pediatrics, quality Abbreviations ED--emergency department NACRS--National Ambulatory Care Reporting System

Mr X, a member of hospital staff, visited me in the A&E staff room the other day. As we chatted, I noticed that he had red eyes and a runny [...]

This study compares the accuracy and reliability of emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs) with those of junior A&E doctors, namely senior house officers (SHOs), when assessing eye emergencies. The study was [...]