ICare-ACS (Improving Care Processes for Patients With Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome): A Study of Cross-System Implementation of a National Clinical Pathway.

Background: Efforts to safely reduce length of stay for emergency department patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have had mixed success. Few system-wide efforts affecting multiple hospital emergency departments have ever been evaluated. We evaluated the effectiveness of a nationwide implementation of clinical pathways for potential ACS in disparate hospitals.

In situ simulation training in emergency departments: what patients really want to know.

Objectives: Despite the use of in situ simulation in the emergency department (ED) for training staff to better manage critical events, little is known about how such training is experienced by patients in the ED during these simulations. We therefore aimed to explore ED patient knowledge and perceptions about staff training for emergencies, as well as their views about simulation generally, and in the ED setting specifically.

Methods: In this qualitative study, we used an interpretive approach involving video elicitation and semistructured interviews with patients who were waiting for treatment in the ED.

Using a template in fracture clinic leads to a sustained improvement in clinical notes.

Changes in shift work patterns have meant that patients presenting to a hospital fracture clinic for follow-up may see a different doctor on each visit. Clear clinical notes are essential in this setting, for both clinical and medico-legal reasons. We tried to improve documentation in the fracture clinic by using an education intervention followed by the introduction of a fracture clinic template.

Use of information technology in New Zealand emergency departments.

Objectives: To determine previous computer training and current computer confidence of emergency medicine (EM) specialists and trainees, and to determine the accessibility of computer and Internet resources in New Zealand ED.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study of all New Zealand EM specialists and trainees between July 2005 and October 2005, using a 47-item postal questionnaire. Descriptive statistics with 95% confidence intervals were compiled.

Accidental poisoning in New Zealand.

Objective: To examine mortality and morbidity associated with accidental poisoning in New Zealand for the period of 1993-97, and make comparisons with international trends.

Methods: Poison Centre call data, and mortality and public hospital discharge data from the New Zealand Health Information Service were examined. Mortality and hospitalization rates were calculated.