How a short stay unit can reduce children's waiting times.
Admitting children to emergency departments (EDs) often places them in an environment better suited to the treatment of adult patients. These children are often triaged and treated as adults, resulting in children being given the wrong triage categories and having their treatment delayed. EDs have problems giving drugs to children, staff are unfamiliar with children's emergency care, and children find EDs frightening. A paediatric emergency short stay unit (PESSU) was opened at Caboolture Hospital, Queensland, Australia, in January 2014. Admission to the PESSU has significantly reduced waiting times for children arriving at the ED and enabled specialist nursing and medical care to be provided quickly. This has been supported by the development of the paediatric flow nurse role ( Gray et al 2016 ).
Caboolture Hospital, Queensland, Australia.
Constance
C
Gray
Queensland University of Technology, Caboolture, Queensland, Australia.
Martin
M
Christensen
D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006757:Hospital Units; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D000072222:Nurses, Pediatric; D019370:Observation; D000072143:Pediatricians; D011793:Queensland; D013997:Time Factors; D014218:Triage
child health; emergency care; observation unit; paediatric nursing; short stay paediatric assessment unit