Historical Evolution of Emergency Nurse Practitioner Education: A Comprehensive Review.

This manuscript explores the historical evolution of emergency nurse practitioner (ENP) education from its inception to its current state. It discusses key milestones, innovative leaders, curricular approaches and current program characteristics. The paper concludes with a review of the current state of ENP education, persistent challenges, and future directions.

Is Ketamine an Effective Treatment of Acute Agitation in the Emergency Department? Implications for APRN Practice.

This article reviews the results of a randomized controlled trial, "Rapid Agitation Control with Ketamine in the Emergency Department: A Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial" by D. Barbic et al. (2021), comparing time to sedation, level of sedation, and adverse outcomes between intramuscular ketamine versus intramuscular midazolam and haloperidol among acutely agitated patients presenting to the emergency department (ED).

Spontaneous Pneumothorax: Controversies in Treatment.

The Research to Practice column critiques a current research article and translates the findings, in the context of a case, to a practice change within emergency settings. This article reviews the findings of a randomized controlled trial conducted by A. Theille et al.

Stakeholder perspectives on navigating the pediatric concussion experience: Exploring the needs for improved communication across the care continuum.

Background: For children, the post-concussion return to school process is a critical step towards achieving positive health outcomes. The process requires integration between healthcare professionals, parents, and school personnel.

Objective: This research team conducted focus groups with stakeholders including parents, education personnel, school nurses, external healthcare providers (nurses) and athletic trainers to identify communication patterns between healthcare providers outside of the school setting and school personnel.

Measuring the impact of a COVID-19 continuing education program.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapidly shifting health care environment, with frequent changes to best practices, which can lead to knowledge and practice gaps among health care providers, including nurse practitioners (NPs). The purpose of this paper was to describe a continuing education (CE) program developed to address COVID-19 knowledge gaps and to report on the changes in knowledge, competence, and confidence following program completion. The CE program was a 2.

Application of the RE-AIM Framework for the Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Evaluation and Management Intervention: A Study Protocol for Program Evaluation.

Background: Children who experience a mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) may encounter cognitive and behavioral changes that often negatively impact school performance. Communication linkages between the various healthcare systems and school systems are rarely well-coordinated, placing children with an mTBI at risk for prolonged recovery, adverse impact on learning, and mTBI re-exposure. The objective of this study is to rigorously appraise the pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Evaluation and Management Intervention that was designed to enhance diagnosis and management of pediatric mTBI through enhanced patient discharge instructions and communication linkages between school and primary care providers.

Becoming fall-safe: a framework for reducing inpatient falls.

This article describes a 10-year programme of work that has reduced inpatient falls rate by 46% and how this improvement has been sustained. The methodology applied in this initiative has forced one Trust to challenge expectations about the inevitability of patient falls in hospital. This initiative has resulted in approximately 568 fewer falls each year.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in the Emergency Department: A Clinical Practice Gap.

This article, "Concussion Care in the Emergency Department: A Prospective Observational Brief Report," by seeks to examine current clinician practice patterns related to the evaluation and management of patients identified as at risk for a sustained mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The findings are discussed in the context of an evaluation and management gap surrounding mTBI care among emergency department (ED) providers at a Level I trauma and emergency care center. Although variabilities exist among mTBI care in the ED, provider education, standardization of guidelines, and implementation practices are strategies for increasing the uptake of care in the ED for patients presenting with mTBI.

Are Pelvic Exams Necessary Anymore?

This article, "Is the pelvic examination still crucial in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with vaginal bleeding or abdominal pain when an intrauterine pregnancy is identified on ultrasonography? A randomized controlled trial," by J. A. ) seeks to determine whether excluding a pelvic examination among patients presenting to the ED with first-trimester vaginal bleeding or lower abdominal pain, and indication of intrauterine pregnancy recorded on ultrasound increases morbidity.

Evaluation of Pain in the Cognitively Impaired Patient in the Emergency Department.

The Research to Practice column is intended to improve the research critique skills of the advanced practice registered nurse and the emergency nurse, and to assist with the translation of research into practice. For each column, a topic and a research study are selected. The stage is set with a case presentation.

Acute Headache in the Emergency Department: Is Lumbar Puncture Still Necessary to Rule Out Subarachnoid Hemorrhage?

The purpose of the Research to Practice column is to review current primary journal articles that directly affect the practice of the advanced practice nurse (APN) in the emergency department. This review examines the findings of Carpenter et al. (2016) from their article, "Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Describing the Diagnostic Accuracy of History, Physical Exam, Imaging, and Lumbar Puncture With an Exploration of Test Thresholds.

Gait speed in the emergency department: improving assessment among older adults.

The research to practice column is intended to improve the research critique skills of the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and to assist with the translation of research into practice. This column critiques the findings from a meta-analysis, "Gait speed and survival in older adults," by S. Studenski et al.

Vibration signaling in mobile devices for emergency alerting: a study with deaf evaluators.

In the United States, a nationwide Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) is being planned to alert cellular mobile device subscribers to emergencies occurring near the location of the mobile device. The plan specifies a unique audio attention signal as well as a unique vibration attention signal (for mobile devices set to vibrate) to identify that the incoming message pertains to an emergency. Ratings of vibration signals of varying lengths and patterns were obtained from 44 deaf users of mobile devices for the perceived effectiveness of the signal in getting their attention in an emergency situation.