This aim of this study was to determine the association between emergency department (ED) boarding time, severity of illness, and outcomes for critically ill patients. This was a prospective cohort study of ED patients who met criteria for admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients were divided into 2 groups: those who spent less than 6 hr in the ED prior to transfer, and those who spent 6 hr or more. The groups were compared on the basis of severity of illness, Glasgow Coma Scale score, presence of fever, admission time, and hospital survival. Factors associated with increased mortality included patients who spent 6 hr or longer in the ED, had a fever, were admitted in the evening or night, or were indirect ICU admissions. Length of time spent in the ED prior to transfer to inpatient care is one of several factors associated with increased mortality in critical care patients who were intubated in the ED.
Severely injured victims of motor vehicle crashes suffer from serious problems in terms of HRQOL which is gradually improved even 2 years after hospital discharge. In addition, HRQOL is significantly related to income. Resources used for rehabilitation decrease over time, but even at 24 months, the patients still use half of the amount as compared with the cost of the first 6 months after trauma.
This article presents data that examine the patient׳s satisfaction from the services of an Emergency Department in Greece during the economic crisis. 490 questionnaires have been collected for the assessment of patient satisfaction by taking into account criteria like cleanliness, waiting room, access to the hospital, courtesy, friendliness and professional attitude of the emergency department staff, service processes and waiting times. In order to examine the satisfaction levels of the patients and moreover to design possible strategic actions we use the MUSA method.
The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical use of smartphones among medical and nursing staff in Greece. This study used a 17-item questionnaire that was administered to the participants by the authors. The sample consists of 974 participants of 1200 who were asked to participate (ie, a response rate of 81.3%). The survey was open to all categories of medical and nursing staff (junior doctors, specialized doctors, assistant nurses, and RNs). In total, 167 participants (18.5%) were nurse assistants; 385 participants (42.6%), nurses; 154 participants (17%), specialized doctors; and 198 participants (21.9%), junior doctors. The data analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics (version 21), and the significance level was set to .05. Medical doctors own smartphones on a higher percentage in comparison with nurses. Among smartphone owners, medical doctors use their devices for clinical issues more frequently compared with nurses. Although medical doctors believe that smartphones can be a great tool for their work, they state that they do not use it for clinical reasons. Nurses state that they do not use their smartphones for clinical reasons because they are not aware of the existence of applications that can be used to assist them in their daily clinical tasks.
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