Protective lung strategies: A cross sectional survey of nurses knowledge and use in the emergency department.

Background: Mechanical ventilation (MV) is commonly used in emergency departments (EDs). Protective lung strategies (PLS), comprising of low tidal volume (6mL/kg), control of oxygen and plateau pressures, and administration of positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) has been shown to reduces the risks associated with MV but there is little evidence exists about nurses' knowledge or application of PLS. Our aim was to explore nurses knowledge and application of PLS in Australian EDs.

Use of the Westmead PTA scale to monitor recovery of memory after mild head injury.

Study Objective: Duration of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) is an important index of severity of head injury. Retrospective assessment of PTA duration is arguably unreliable. Existing objective measures of PTA duration are designed for use over a 24-hour timeframe and, therefore, are not useful for assessing PTA following mild head injury (MHI).