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Results of a national survey of Australian nurses' practice caring for older people in an emergency department
Author(s) -
Deasey Debra,
Kable Ashley,
Jeong Sarah
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/jocn.13365
Subject(s) - emergency department , medicine , emergency nursing , older people , nursing , acute care , family medicine , medical emergency , health care , gerontology , economics , economic growth
Aim and objective To report Australian nurses' practices caring for older people in the emergency department. Background Unmet clinical needs of older patients in the emergency departments can have a negative impact on nurses and patients. Method and design A national cross‐sectional survey using a previously validated instrument, Older Person in Acute Care survey, was conducted to measure Australian emergency nurses' attitudes towards older people in their care. Members of the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia ( CENA ) were invited to participate in the study. There were 371 (39%) completed and valid surveys returned. Results This study determined that Australian emergency department nurses report many positive practices used for older patients in their care. Conclusion In this study, the Older Person in Acute Care survey has identified that, overall, emergency departments nurses have positive clinical practices towards their older patients in the emergency departments. The implications for clinical practice are significant as patient centred care in the Australian emergency departments will reduce adverse events for the older patient.