Commentary on: Douglas C, Alexeev S, Middleton S, Gardner G, Kelly P, McInnes E, et al. Transforming nursing assessment in acute hospitals: A cluster randomised controlled trial of an evidence-based nursing core assessment (the ENCORE trial). International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2024. 2024;151:104690.
Implications for practice and research Introducing training to enhance manual nursing assessment and surveillance has the potential to improve outcomes for hospitalised patients with multimorbidity. Further research is needed to establish which aspects of nursing assessment and surveillance are essential to improving recognition and response to clinical deterioration.
Failure to identify and respond to deteriorating patients is a significant and complex clinical safety issue. There is a growing body of international research evidence which has identified the importance of system and human factors in ‘failure to rescue’ events.
Commentary on: Drennan J, Murphey A, McCarthy VJC, Ball J, Duffield C, Crouch R, Kelly G, Loughnane C, Murphey A, Hegarty J, Brady N, Scott A & Griffiths P. The association between nurse staffing and quality of care in emergency departments: A systematic review. Int J Nurs Stud 2024 153, 104 706.
Implications for practice and research Healthcare leaders should place high importance on ensuring adequate levels of nursing staff in emergency departments to reduce serious adverse outcomes. Further research is needed to ascertain safe nurse staffing levels in emergency departments.
There is a substantial body of international evidence, which demonstrates that inadequate nurse staffing is associated with increased mortality and poor patient outcomes in medical and surgical settings.
Commentary on: Roussel M, Teissandier D, Yordanov Y, et al. Overnight stay in the emergency department and mortality in older patients. JAMA Intern Med. 2023 Dec 1;183(12):1378-1385.
Healthcare leaders should place high importance on organisational solutions to prioritise the admission of older patients from emergency departments (EDs) to wards to reduce risks associated with overnight stays. Further evidence is needed to understand if increased risks to older patients in ED also occur at other times and to establish the most effective interventions to mitigate risks.
Crowding and access block in emergency departments (EDs) are pervasive problems of international concern.