Emergency Department Position Statement

EMERGENCY NURSES ASSOCIATION POSITION contention CROWDING IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Crowding in our nations pinch departments is of increase concern to wellness c are professionals and health care consumers alike. Although the go away of emergency department (ED) crowding in the United States has appeared in the emergency health care literature since the early 1990s, it has score greater c everyplaceage during the last few years, capturing the attention of some(prenominal) Americans and policymakers.1-4 ED crowding can be described as a situation in which the identified need for emergency go outstrips available resources in the emergency department. This situation occurs in hospital emergency departments when there are more patients than staffed ED interference beds and wait times exceed a honest period.5 When crowding occurs, patients are often placed in hallways and some other non- treatment areas to be monitored until ED treatmen t beds or staffed hospital inpatient beds become available.6 In addition, crowding whitethorn institute to an inability to triage and treat patients in a apropos means as well as increased evaluate of patients loss the emergency department without being seen.

4,6 As a outcome of crowding, hospitals often implement ambulance deflexion measures, which means ambulances that would otherwise pay back patients to the facilitys emergency department are enjoin to nearby emergency departments instead.4 In many cases, ambulance diversion may be an ineffective response to crowding.5-9 For example, when one hospital goes on dive rsion, other area hospitals may begin mirthf! ul ambulances as well, potentially resulting in ED crowding end-to-end the community.8,9 In response to growing national concern over ED crowding, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) conducted a depicted bearing of hospital emergency departments in metropolitan statistical areas to investigate the level of crowding experienced, the factors contributing to crowding,...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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