| Record |
Author  |
Ardagh, M.; Wells, E.; Cooper, K.; Lyons, R.; Patterson, R.; O'Donovan, P. |
| Title |
Effect of a rapid assessment clinic on the waiting time to be seen by a doctor and the time spent in the department, for patients presenting to an urban emergency department: A controlled prospective trial |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2002 |
Publication |
New Zealand Medical Journal |
Abbreviated Journal |
Access is free to articles older than 6 months, and abstracts. |
| Volume |
115 |
Issue |
1157 |
Pages |
|
| Keywords |
Emergency nursing; Time factors; Clinical assessment; Clinical decision making |
| Abstract |
The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that triaging certain emergency department patients through a rapid assessment clinic (RAC) improves the waiting times, and times in the department, for all patients presenting to the emergency department. For ten weeks an additional nurse and doctor were rostered. On the odd weeks, these two staff ran a RAC and on even weeks, they did not, but simply joined the other medical and nursing staff, managing patients in the traditional way. During the five weeks of the RAC clinic a total of 2263 patients attended the emergency department, and 361 of these were referred to the RAC clinic. During the five control weeks a total of 2204 patients attended the emergency department. There was no significant difference in the distribution across triage categories between the RAC and non-RAC periods. The researchers found that the rapid management of patients with problems which do not require prolonged assessment or decision making, is beneficial not only to those patients, but also to other patients sharing the same, limited resources. |
| Call Number |
NRSNZNO @ research @ |
Serial |
617 |
| Permanent link to this record |
