Emergency Nursing

EMERGENCY NURSING Objectives: After the discussion, we will be able to:

I.

a.

Learn what is Emergency Emergency Nursing, Nursing, its scope and limitation.

b.

Learn about the common common procedures encountered during Emergency Emergency situations.

c.

Properly assess assess and classify patients using the principles of triage.

Definition of Terms: a.

Emergency ± a situation or a condition condition that needs needs prompt and immediate intervention. - ³ life or limb´

b.

Emergency nursing ± nursing  ± is the practice of emergency care by professional nurses.



Care is provided in any setting to persons of all ages with actual or perceived alterations in physical or  emotional health.



Initially, patients may not have a medical diagnosis.



Emergency nurses must be ready to treat a wide variety of illnesses or injury situations, ranging from a sore throat to a heart attack.

c.

Emergency Team- individuals, professional/ancillary, who have direct responsibility for the care of emergency patients.

d. Emergency Nurse  professional nurses trained in providing fast, efficient and safe emergency care.

II. Scope of Practice and Standards A.

Core

1.

of Emergency Nursing

Essence 

Assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of perceived actual or potential, sudden, physical or psychological conditions that occur in varied settings which require minimal care, life support, patient education and referral of legal implication.

2. Environment 

3.

Includes

primary, secondary, and tertiary settings.

Clients

B. Dimension 1.

Characteristics



Assessment, diagnosis and treatment of emergent, urgent and non urgent conditions



Disaster preparedness



Stabilization



Triage

and resuscitation

2. Roles 

Care provider 



Educator 



Manager 



Advocate

3. Processes Involved in Emergency Care a.

Nursing Process

b. Triage  is the process of classifying patients treatment according to the severity of their condition. TYPES OF TRIAGE 

Simple



Advanced Triage



Reverse Triage

C linically

Triage - S.T.A.R.T. Model

dead (Black)  negative pulse and breathing.

Emergent (Red)  immediate treatment. Urgent (Yellow)  patients who require treatme nt and whose injuries have complications that are not life threatening provided they are treated within 1 to 2 hours. Non Urgent (Green) - patients with local injurie s who do not have immediate complications and who can wait several hours for medical treatment. Delayed  Doesnt require emergency treatment at all. C.

Boundaries 1. External boundaries 2.

Internal

Legal

Boundaries

issues affecting the provision of emergency nursing

1.

Negligence

2.

Malpractice

3.

Good Samaritan Laws ±states that a health care professional who stops and aids accident without compensation will not be liable for untoward results related to his/her acts.

4.

Informed consent

5.

Implied consent

6.

Duty to report suspected crimes to the police

7.

Duty to gather evidence in criminal investigations; be aware of hospital policy and state laws for evidence collection