The Team Is Not Okay: Violence in Emergency Departments Across Disciplines in a Health System.

Introduction: Healthcare workers, particularly those in the emergency department (ED), experience high rates of injuries caused by workplace violence (WPV).

Objective: Our goal was to establish the incidence of WPV among multidisciplinary ED staff within a regional health system and assess its impact on staff victims.

Methods: We conducted a survey study of all multidisciplinary ED staff at 18 Midwestern EDs encompassing a larger health system between November 18-December 31, 2020.

Improving Timely Antibiotic Administration for Pediatric Oncology Patients With Neutropenic Fever Seen in the Emergency Department.

Objective: To improve the care for pediatric oncology patients with neutropenic fever who present to the emergency department (ED) by administering appropriate empiric antibiotics within 60 minutes of arrival.

Patients And Methods: We focused on improving the care for pediatric oncology patients at risk of neutropenia who presented to the ED with concern for fever. Our baseline adherence to the administration of empiric antibiotics within 60 minutes for this population was 53% (76/144) from January 1, 2010, to December 21, 2014.

Characterization of emergency department abandonment using a real-time location system.

Background: Patients who present to emergency departments (EDs) for evaluation but are noted to have left without being seen (LWBS) are potentially at great risk. Governmental agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, as well as hospitals and health organizations, are examining the factors which drive LWBS, including accurately quantifying patient tolerance to wait times and targeting interventions to improve patient tolerance to waiting.

Objective: Compare traditional methods of estimating time to LWBS with an objective method using a real-time location tracking system (RTLS); examine temporal factors associated with greater LWBS rates.

Using a Potentially Aggressive/Violent Patient Huddle to Improve Health Care Safety.

Background: Unexpected situations of workplace violence are occurring in the United States at increasing rates in health care environments, warranting increased attention to processes supporting safety for health care workers. At a large, academic hospital, two patient safety incidents had occurred in a two-year period in which a patient had become violent at the time of admission from the emergency department (ED) to the medical unit.

Methods: A multidisciplinary quality improvement (QI) team was formed to address the risk of violent patient events.

Effect of a physician assistant as triage liaison provider on patient throughput in an academic emergency department.

Objectives: Overcapacity issues plague emergency departments (EDs). Studies suggest that triage liaison providers (TLPs) may shorten patient length of stay (LOS) and reduce the proportion of patients who leave without being seen (LWBS), but these results are not universal. Previous studies used physicians as TLPs.

Effectiveness of patient-collected swabs for influenza testing.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of self-collected and health care worker (HCW)-collected nasal swabs for detection of influenza viruses and determine the patients' preference for type of collection.

Patients And Methods: We enrolled adult patients presenting with influenzalike illness to the Emergency Department at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, from January 28, 2011, through April 30, 2011. Patients self-collected a midturbinate nasal flocked swab from their right nostril following written instructions.