Perceptions of a 'virtual' acute admission unit.
The Haaglanden Medical Centre, the Hague, Netherlands, has opened a 'virtual' acute admission unit (VAAU) to increase throughput of acute patients. The VAAU consists of 15 inpatient beds located on different wards that are set aside for patients from the emergency department (ED) when all of the beds on specialty wards are being used. A qualitative evaluation of the VAAU has revealed that it has reduced emergency nurses' workload and allowed them more time to see and treat patients. This suggests that the introduction of VAAUs may address similar problems of ED throughput in the U.K.
Haaglanden Medical Centre, the Hague, Netherlands.
Christien
C
van der Linden
Naomi
N
van der Linden
Robert
R
Lindeboom
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001509:Bed Occupancy; D003441:Crowding; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D016529:Emergency Nursing; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016526:Workload