The use and impact of pathology tests in emergency department patients with mental health-related complaints: A cross sectional study.

Objective: To evaluate the use and impact of pathology tests in patients who present to the ED with mental health-related complaints. The primary objective is to measure the proportion of patients undergoing pathology tests and assess whether these tests trigger a change in management.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed all recorded mental health presentations to our regional ED between January and June 2021.

Rethinking the tiered trauma team response: A case-series study in a regional trauma centre.

Objective: To reduce perceived unnecessary resource use, we modified our tiered trauma response. If a patient was not physiologically compromised, surgical registrar attendance was not mandated. We investigated the effect of this change on missed injury, unplanned representation to ED, diagnostic imaging rates and staff satisfaction.

Factors that contribute to patient length of stay in the emergency department: A time in motion observational study.

Objectives: Increased Emergency Department length of stay impacts access to emergency care and is associated with increased patient morbidity, overcrowding, reduced patient and staff satisfaction. We sought to determine the contributing factors to increased length of stay in our mixed ED.

Methods: A real-time observational study was conducted at Wollongong Hospital over a continuous 72-h period.

Development of an Early Activation Hip Fracture Care Bundle and Implementation Strategy to Improve Adherence to the National Hip Fracture Clinical Care Standard.

Objective: To develop and implement a multidisciplinary early activation mechanism and bundle of care (eHIP) to improve adherence to ACSQHC standards in a regional trauma centre.

Methods: Barriers to implementation were categorised using the Theoretical Domains Framework, then linked to specific strategies guided by the Behaviour Change Wheel and Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (BCTT). The resulting implementation strategies were assessed using Affordable, Practical, Effective, Acceptable, had Side-effects (APEASE) criteria.

Randomised trial of the fascia iliaca block versus the '3-in-1' block for femoral neck fractures in the emergency department.

Introduction: Femoral neck fractures are a common and painful injury. Femoral nerve blocks, and a variant of this technique termed the '3-in-1' block, are often used in this patient group, but their effect is variable. The fascia iliaca compartment block (FIB) has been proposed as an alternative, but the relative effectiveness of the two techniques in the early stages of care is unknown.

A study exploring drug use and management of patients presenting to an inner city emergency department.

Patients who present to an emergency department (ED) with a problem related to illegal drug use can be difficult to identify and are perceived to generate a significant workload for staff. This study suggests that illicit drug use may be more common than previously reported and also that the impact on the ED is perceived by staff to be disproportionately high compared with the actual numbers of patients presenting with complaints related to illicit drug use. We conclude that the over estimation by staff is directly related to the challenges that staff working within the ED setting believe this group of patients pose.