Nurses' experiences of working with trauma patients.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the issues relating to nursing care of trauma patients at St George Hospital in Sydney, Australia.


METHODS
A series of nursing focus groups were conducted with nurses from the emergency department, high dependency surgical ward and several general surgical wards. The nurses were asked seven questions relating to their experience of working with trauma patients.


RESULTS
The resulting data identified recurring themes, such as communication, education, documentation, pain management, workload and resources.


CONCLUSIONS
It is hoped that the information from the focus groups will lead to an improvement in the communication between healthcare professionals as well as better co-ordination of patient care.
Curtis
K
K
St George Hospital, Kogarah, NSW, Australia. curtisk@sesahs.nsw.gov.au
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D019090:Case Management; D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D004282:Documentation; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007587:Job Description; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000451:nursing*; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009517:New South Wales; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload