Nursing roles in disaster zones: Experiences and lessons from Turkey's 2023 earthquakes.

Background: Disasters affect human health and well-being globally. Nursing plays a vital role in disaster preparedness and response, ensuring efficient early care coordination and delivering effective field treatment.

Aim: This study investigates the challenges an Israeli humanitarian delegation encountered during their response to major earthquakes in Turkey in 2023.

Lessons learned from an evaluation of referrals to the emergency department.

Background: Emergency department (ED) crowding is an international phenomenon dependent on input, throughput, and output factors. This study aims to determine whether patterns of potentially unnecessary referrals from either primary care physicians (PCPs) or urgent care centers (UCCs) can be identified, thereby to reduce ED visits by patients who could be treated elsewhere. Literature from the United States reports up to 35% unnecessary referrals from UCCs.