Background Each Emergency Room (ER) across the USA provides every patient with paperwork upon discharge, which commonly includes information about the patient’s diagnosis. This information will briefly describe the condition, provide information on treatment outside the ER, and possibly more, depending on the document and source. These documents are not made by hospital staff, but are generally purchased from outside providers who mass market such documents as resources for hospitals to use to educate patients. One issue with these documents lies in their mass usage, which is not necessarily designed to target the general population’s reading and educational levels. Purpose The purpose of this research was to investigate currently used discharge education materials and evaluate them for their readability and content. From this investigation, recommendations were made and adjustments to the documents were applied in order to increase understanding for the general population. Results The documents ranged in Flesch-Kincaid grade level rankings from 7.8 to 3.6, and with Flesch Reading Ease scores of 54.7 to 85.3. The entirety of the standard documents were ranked at a minimum of 7th grade equivalents, and are, at the hardest rank, ranked at a 54.7 by the Reading Ease score. In comparison, the ‘easy to read’ documents were ranked all below 5th grade level, and at the hardest rank, ranked at a 69.0 with the Flesch Reading Ease calculation. At a minimum, all documents included condition information and home care guidelines. The major obvious difference between the documents considered ‘easy to read’ and the standard documents are that those considered easy to read typically had sections found on the standard document removed, and have the same overall content as the standard version remaining, only in a simpler vocabulary. Conclusions In order to provide the best educational materials to the general public, it would be in the best interest of companies manufacturing these documents to produce only one version, which would be at a level around the 6th grade or below. A document slightly below the 6th grade level would be more ideal, as the simpler the document is, the more patients it will be accessible for overall, accounting for those who are below the national standards. It is not truly necessary to separate the documents into two forms, and it helps to prevent confusion or offense by doing so.

This thesis examined the experience of compassion fatigue in nurses through analysis of research studies conducted within the past ten years. A literature review was completed using CINAHL Plus with Full Text, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO databases. Efficacy of current management strategies and interventions was evaluated. Findings indicate that educating nurses working in high-risk units improves self-recognition and lowers compassion fatigue levels. Institutional factors such as a lack of managerial support and organizational commitment contribute to the experience of compassion fatigue. An organization's involvement in maximizing compassion satisfaction through meaningful recognition of nurses' contributions to care and implementation of organizational prevention programs minimizes the risk of developing compassion fatigue. Once self-recognition by nurses and organizations participation level in mitigating compassion fatigue is addressed, interventions can be implemented to attenuate the experience of compassion fatigue. Resiliency programs and mindfulness-based interventions were efficacious in mitigating compassion fatigue.

Thesis advisor: Monica O'Reilly-Jacob / Background: Emergency department crowding (EDC) is a major issue affecting hospitals in the United States and has devastating consequences, including an increased risk of patient mortality. Solutions to address EDC are traditionally focused on adding resources, including increased nurse staffing ratios. However, these solutions largely ignore the value of the experience and expertise that each nurse possesses and how those attributes can impact patient outcomes. This dissertation uses Benner’s Novice to Expert theory of professional development to describe how individual emergency nurse expertise influences patient length of stay in the emergency department and how it can be part of the strategy in addressing EDC.Purpose: The purpose of this program of research was to identify, articulate, and demonstrate a new approach to emergency nurse performance evaluation that integrates patient outcome data and emergency nurse characteristics. Methods: First, in a scoping review, we explored the different approaches to measuring nurse performance using patient outcome data and identified common themes. Second, a concept analysis introduced Emergency Nurse Efficiency as a novel framework to understand how emergency nurses can be evaluated using patient outcome data. Finally, a retrospective correlational study established the association between nurse expertise and emergency patient length of stay. Results: In Chapter Two of this dissertation, the researchers conducted a scoping review of nurse performance metrics and identified twelve articles for inclusion. We identified three themes: the emerging nature of these metrics in the literature, variability in their applications, and performance implications. We further described an opportunity for future researchers to work with nurse leaders and staff nurses to optimize these metrics. In Chapter Three, we performed a concept analysis to introduce a novel metric, called Emergency Nurse Efficiency, that is a measurable attribute that changes as experience is gained and incorporates the positive impact of an individual nurse during a given time while subtracting the negative. Using this measurement to evaluate ED nurse performance could guide staff development, education, and performance improvement initiatives. In Chapter Four, we performed a retrospective correlational analysis and administered an online survey to describe the relationship between individual emergency nurses, and their respective level of expertise, and their patients’ ED LOS. We found that, when accounting for patient-level variables and the influence of the ED physicians, emergency nurses are a statistically significant predictor of their patients’ ED LOS. A higher level of clinical expertise among emergency likely produces a lower ED LOS for their patients, and nurse leaders should seek to better understand these metrics for professional development and quality improvement activities. Conclusions: This dissertation made substantial knowledge contributions to the literature regarding the evaluation of individual emergency nurses and the influence that they have on patient outcomes. It established, first, that the measurement of individual nurse performance is varied and inconsistent; second, that considering emergency nursing as a team activity similar to professional sports results in a conceptual framework that can evaluate individual performance within a group context; and, third, that there is a relationship between the individual emergency nurse and their patients’ ED LOS, and that relationship can be further understood within Benner’s Novice to Expert theoretical model. We recommend that nurse leaders use these data as part of their strategy to decrease EDC. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

Enligt Svenska hjärt- och lungräddningsregistret drabbas cirka 13 000 personer årligen av ett plötsligt hjärtstopp i Sverige och av dessa inleds hjärt-lungräddning [HLR] i cirka 8500 av fallen. HLR innebär att på konstgjord väg cirkulera blodet genom kompressioner och inblåsningar. Det kan vara en mycket traumatisk upplevelse för de närstående och sjuksköterskan har ett stort ansvar i att inkludera dem enligt de etiska riktlinjerna som finns avseende HLR.  Syftet med detta arbete var att beskriva närståendes inställning till och erfarenhet av att närvara vid hjärt-lungräddning inom akutsjukvården. En litteraturöversikt med systematisk ansats har använts som metod. Totalt 17 artiklar har inkluderats, varav 9 kvantitativa och 8 kvalitativa. Artiklarna kvalitetsgranskades utifrån Sophiahemmets framtagna granskningsinstrument för bedömning av den vetenskapliga kvalitén. Därefter påbörjades textanalysen där artiklarna först summerades i en artikelmatris, sedan plockades data som motsvarade syftet ut från respektive artikel. Data syntetiserades i kategorier och underkategorier. Resultatet baserades på tre övergripande huvudkategorier, individens inställning och förutsättningar till att närvara, omständigheter som påverkar upplevelsen och hur bemötande och kommunikation formar vårdrelationen. Majoriteten av de närstående hade en positiv inställning och även om det var en känslomässigt utmanande upplevelse var det viktigt att finnas där för sin närstående. Närstående hade dock ett stort behov av stöd i olika former både från andra närstående och vårdpersonal. Vårdpersonalens inställning och bemötande påverkade upplevelsen.  Slutsatsen var att anhöriga vill vara närvarande men behöver stöd för att bättre kunna hantera upplevelsen och minska risken för psykisk ohälsa. / According to the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Register, approximately 13,000 people suffer a sudden cardiac arrest annually in Sweden, and of these, cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR] is initiated in about 8,500 of the cases. CPR involves artificially circulating the blood through compressions and breaths. It can be a very traumatic experience for the relatives and the nurse has a responsibility to include them according to the ethical guidelines that exist regarding CPR. The aim of this study was to describe relatives’ attitudes to and experience of being present at cardiopulmonary resuscitation in emergency care. A literature review with a systematic approach has been used as a method. Database searches have been made in Cinahl and PubMed. A total of 17 articles have been included, of which nine are quantitative and eight qualitative. The articles were quality reviewed on the basis of Sophiahemmet’s review instrument for assessing scientific quality. Then the text analysis began, where the articles were first summarized in an article matrix, then data that corresponded to the purpose was picked out from each article. The data were synthesized into categories and subcategories. The result was based on three main categories, the individual’s attitude and conditions for attending, circumstances that affect the experience and how treatment and communication shape the care relationship. The majority of the relatives had a positive attitude and even though it was an emotionally challenging experience, it was important to be there for the loved one. However, relatives had a great need for support in various forms both from other relatives and healthcare professionals. The healthcare professional's attitude and treatment affected the experience. The conclusion was that relatives want to be present but need support to better manage the experience and reduce the risk of mental illness.

Emergency nursing is an evolving field in Kenya with the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) yet to list it as a speciality area. This study wished to identify and describe the core competencies that should be included in an emergency nurse training programme based on the views of nurses and doctors who work in emergency units in a level 1 hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. The researcher used qualitative explorative and quantitative descriptive designs in phases 1 and 2, respectively, and convenience and purposive sampling. The study found that the respondents emphasised the inclusion of 137 (93.2%) of the 147 skills in the questionnaire as core competencies and disagreed with 10 (6.8%). Concomitantly, the vast majority of the respondents (93.6%) supported the inclusion of the skills compared to those (6.3%) that did not. Based on the findings, the researcher made recommendations of the core competencies to be included in the programme. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health studies)

A triagem de pacientes em serviços de emergência constitui um campo de atuação para o enfermeiro, entretanto faltam instrumentos que possam ser utilizados para classificar a gravidade do paciente e a adequação de recursos ao seu atendimento. A finalidade deste estudo é obter um instrumento confiável que possa classificar as condições do paciente, melhorando a qualidade da assistência e diminuindo os riscos decorrentes da espera para o atendimento.O presente estudo teve como objetivo validar a escala de classificação de pacientes “Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale" (CTAS). Esta escala classifica o paciente em cinco níveis (1 a 5), respectivamente: situações de risco de vida, emergência, urgência, semi-urgência, não urgência. O instrumento foi submetido à tradução, versão à língua de origem, avaliação semântica, idiomática , cultural e conceitual. Após esta fase de validação, realizou-se a fase de confiabilidade interobservadores, entre a pesquisadora e duas enfermeiras voluntárias. A concordância expressa pelo índice kappa, foi de 0,739. Após esta etapa a pesquisadora avaliou 127 pacientes atendidos em um serviço privado, utilizando a CTAS. Houve predominância de pacientes classificados como nível 4 (46,00%) . O tempo médio entre a chegada do paciente, avaliação pelo serviço de triagem e entrada no serviço foi de 3,71 minutos. Houve associação estatisticamente significante entre o nível de classificação e as variáveis, sexo, idade, sinais vitais, dor, tempo de permanência, realização de procedimentos, avaliação de especialista e destino. Não houve pacientes classificados como nível 1. As mulheres corresponderam a 75,00% dos pacientes classificados como nível 2 e 3. Pacientes classificados como nível 2 e 3 apresentaram maior média de idade (58,75 anos), maior freqüência de alterações nos sinais vitais (60,00% do total de pacientes com alterações), maior média de permanência (188,45 minutos), necessidade de avaliação por especialistas (54,20% dos pacientes que necessitaram de avaliação) e de internação (73,30 % do total de pacientes que internaram). Pacientes classificados como nível 4, corresponderam a 66,70% dos pacientes com dor no momento da avaliação e a 47,60% dos pacientes que necessitaram de consultas, exames e procedimentos. Entre os homens, 53,80% foi classificado como nível 5. Neste nível destaca-se a menor média de idade (38,45 anos), a menor média de permanência (79,94 minutos), a maior freqüência de pacientes que necessitaram apenas de consulta médica (69,40%) e a alta do serviço para todos os pacientes. A concordância entre a queixa de entrada e o diagnóstico médico de saída da unidade foi de 0,884, expressa pelo índice kappa. Os resultados deste estudo mostram que a escala canadense representa um novo instrumento a ser utilizado pelos serviços de emergência, porém faz-se necessário a realização de novos estudos, com ampliação do tamanho da amostra e aplicação em serviços de complexidades diferentes. / The triage of patients in emergency facilities is a field of work for nurses. However, there is a lack of tools, which may be used to rate the severity of the patient’s condition and the suitability of the resources available. This study aims at obtaining a reliable tool that may be used to rate the patient’s condition, improve the quality of care and reduce the risks arising from the waiting time to care. This study aimed at the validation of the “Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale" (CTAS), which classified patients in five levels (from 1 to 5) respectively: resuscitation, emergent, urgent, semi-urgent, non urgent. The document was translated into Portuguese, translated back into the original language, and assessed from a semantic, idiomatic, cultural and conceptual perspective. The validation was followed by inter-observer reliability of the tool including the researcher and two volunteer nurses. The agreement reflected by the Kappa statistic was 0,739. Following this stage the researcher assessed 127 patients of a private facility using the CTAS. The majority of the patients were classified in level 4 (46,00%). The average time between the patient’s arrival, assessment by the triage service and admission was 3.71 minutes. There was a statistically significant co-relation between the level of triage and the following variables: sex, age, vital signs, pain, length of stay, procedures, specialist assessment and destination. No patients were classified in triage level 1. Women accounted for 75.00% of the patients classified in levels 2 and 3. Patients classified in levels 2 and 3 had the highest age average (58,75 years), the highest rate of changes in vital signs (60,00% of the total number of patients had changes), the highest average length of stay (188,45 minutes). This group also had the highest rate of patients who required specialist assessment (54,20% of the patients who required assessment) and admission (73,30 % of the total patients who were admitted). Patients classified in level 4 accounted for 66,70% of the patients with pain at the time of assessment and 47,60% of the patients who required visits, tests and procedures. Of the male patients, 53,80% were classified in level 5. Patients in this level had the lowest age average (38.45 years) and the lowest length of stay (79,94 minutes). This group also had the highest rate of patients who required only a medical visit (69,40%) and the highest rate of discharge among all patients served by the department. The agreement between the presenting complaint and the medical diagnosis was reflected by a kappa statistic of 0.884. The results of this study show that the Canadian scale is a new tool available to emergency departments. However, further studies, which apply the tool to larger samples and departments with different degrees of complexity, are necessary.

Trata-se de um estudo exploratório descritivo, de abordagem quantitativa, cujo objetivo foi analisar a qualidade da assistência de enfermagem em uma unidade de emergência de adultos de um hospital de ensino, na percepção dos usuários, nas dimensões avaliativas de estrutura, processo e resultado. O estudo foi realizado em um hospital de ensino localizado em um município de grande porte, no interior do Estado de São Paulo. A população foi constituída por 260 participantes e os dados foram coletados no período de agosto a outubro de 2008, através de um questionário, empregando-se a escala Likert. Os dados foram analisados em função dos índices percentuais e testes estatísticos específicos. O instrumento mostrou-se confiável para a população estudada, sendo o valor obtido de Alpha de Cronbach igual a 0,88. Na caracterização dos usuários, verificou-se que 52,7% pertenciam ao sexo masculino, com média de idade de 46,9 anos, sendo que a maior parte dos usuários entrevistados possuía ensino fundamental (54,6%) e médio (30,4%). Na avaliação da dimensão de estrutura buscou-se compreender a relação da assistência de enfermagem com os recursos humanos, materiais, físicos e organizacionais, onde a maioria dos sujeitos mostrou percepção favorável relacionada ao conforto, aos equipamentos, à limpeza dos sanitários, ao acesso à unidade, à sinalização interna e à disponibilidade de medicamentos. Na dimensão de processo foram articulados todos os procedimentos realizados pela equipe de enfermagem e os itens que obtiveram melhores percentuais foram os referentes ao respeito dispensado pela equipe de enfermagem, segurança na realização dos cuidados, procedimentos realizados corretamente e rapidez no atendimento aos usuários em estado grave. Na dimensão de resultado procurou-se retratar o impacto da assistência na saúde dos usuários, onde houve elevada concordância nas questões que tratavam da humanização nos cuidados, melhoria da saúde e com o tratamento executado pela equipe de enfermagem. Na comparação das três dimensões, a que obteve maior escore foi a de resultado com 36,20 (dp± 4,20) e o menor a de estrutura com 33,20 (dp ± 3,80). Frente ao exposto, acredita-se que este estudo possa contribuir para a reformulação dos aspectos avaliados nas três dimensões, sobretudo os de estrutura, por terem apresentado menor favorabilidade / This study aims at assessing the quality of nursing care at an Adult Emergency care unit affiliated with a university hospital, as perceived by its users. A three-component evaluation model was proposed, comprising the users view on the emergency care structure, processes and outcome. The research was carried out in a densely populated city in the state of São Paulo Brazil, between August and October 2008. An exploratory descriptive methodology was chosen within a quantitative framework and a Likert-type scale questionnaire was applied to the 260 patients studied. Reliability was ensured by a 0, 88 Cronbachs Coefficient Alpha. The mean age of the patients was 46,9, 52% of them were male and most had finished elementary school and graduated from high school. The structure component was defined as the articulation between nursing care and human and material resources at the emergency center and its organizational structure; a favorable perception was shown regarding comfort, equipment, cleanliness of lavatories, access to the center, internal signage, and availability of medicines. The process component involved all procedures carried out by the nursing staff; highest scores were given to safety of procedures, accuracy of procedures, promptness in emergency care and respect towards patients. The outcome component was concerned with the impact of nursing intervention in the health of the patients; a positive perception of humanization of care, after-care general health, and the treatment offered by the nursing staff was reported. When the results for all components were tabulated and compared, the component of the result obtained better scores in favorability, with an average of 39.84 (SD ± 4.66) and structure had the worst score, average of 36.48 (SD ± 4.23). The structure component thus deserves a special emphasis for further research. It is hoped this study may offer a contribution towards improved nursing care at the Adult Emergency Unit

O Sistema de Triagem de Manchester (STM) é proposto como importante protocolo para assegurar o atendimento dos pacientes por critérios de gravidade clínica. Dentre os pacientes priorizados estão os com dor precordial ou cardíaca. Contudo, a heterogeneidade da dor torácica pode levar à classificação de menor gravidade, retardando o início da terapêutica de pacientes com Infarto Agudo do Miocárdio (IAM). Assim, esta pesquisa objetivou analisar os determinantes da prioridade de atendimento pelo STM para pacientes com IAM. Desenvolveu-se um estudo de coorte retrospectivo em uma emergência do sul do Brasil, com amostra de 217 pacientes com diagnóstico médico primário de IAM. A coleta de dados foi realizada em prontuário, no período entre março/2014 a fevereiro/2015. Para a análise estatística dos dados os pacientes foram agrupados em dois grupos: prioridade elevada (emergente e muito urgente) e prioridade não elevada (urgente, pouco urgente e não urgente). O projeto de pesquisa foi aprovado em comitê de ética. Os resultados demonstraram que o sexo masculino foi majoritário, com média de idade de 62,1 ±12,4 anos e predominância dos fatores de risco hipertensão e tabagismo. Para 116 (53,4%) pacientes foi atribuída a prioridade não elevada de atendimento pelo STM. Sessenta e quatro (29,5%) pacientes tiveram IAM com supradesnivelamento do segmento ST, 29 (45,3%) deles recebeu prioridade não elevada. O fluxograma Dor torácica (77,9%) e os discriminadores Dor precordial ou cardíaca (27,6%) e Dor moderada (22,5%) foram os mais selecionados. Tosse e dor abdominal (p = 0,039), tempo de início dos sintomas superior há 24 horas (p <0,001) e intensidade de dor leve ou moderada (p = 0,002) foram preditores clínicos associados à determinação de prioridade não elevada. Sudorese (p = 0,048) e níveis elevados de pressão arterial sistólica (p = 0,011) e diastólica (p = 0,003) foram associados à prioridade elevada. Houve associação entre prioridade não elevada com tempos para classificação de risco (p <0,001), porta-ECG (p <0,001) e porta-troponina maiores (p = 0,008). Não foi identificada diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os dois grupos para os tempos porta-agulha (p = 0,600) e porta-balão (p = 0,345). Os resultados forneceram subsídios para o julgamento clínico do enfermeiro triador. / The Manchester Triage System (MTS) risk classification is proposed as an important protocol to assure the assistance of patients based on clinical severity criteria. Among priority patients are who have precordial or cardiac pain. However, the heterogeneity of the clinical presentation of chest pain for individuals can lead to its classification as minor severity, delaying the start of appropriate treatment for Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) patients. Thus, this research aimed to analyze determinants for service priority based on the MTS for patients with AMI. A retrospective cohort study in an emergency department of southern Brazil with a sample of 217 patients with a primary medical diagnosis of AMI was developed. Data collection was carried out from medical records between March 2014 and February 2015. For data analysis, patients were grouped into two groups: high priority (emergency and very urgency) and non-high priority (urgency, less urgency, and non-urgency). The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. Results showed a majority of males, with a mean age of 62.1 ± 12.4 years, and with prevalence of the risk factors hypertension and smoking. For 116 (53.4%) patients, a non-high priority based on MTS was attributed. Sixty-four (29.5%) patients had AMI with segment ST supradepression, where 29 (45.3%) received non-high priority. The flowchart Thoracic Pain (77.9%) and the discriminators precordial or cardiac Pain (27.6%) and moderate Pain (22.5%) were the most selected. Clinical predictors associated with the determination of non-high priority were: cough and abdominal pain (p=0.039), start time of symptoms greater than 24 hours (p<0.001), and mild or moderate pain intensity (p=0.002). High priority was associated with sweating (p=0.048), and elevated levels of arterial systolic (p=0.011) and diastolic (p=0.003) blood pressure. There was an association between non-high priority with greater time to risk classification (p<0.001), door-to-ECG (p<0.001), and greater door-to-troponin (p=0.008). No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups for door-to-needle (p=0.600) and door-to-balloon (p=0.345) time. Results provide resources to support triage nurses’ clinical judgment. / El Sistema de Triaje Manchester (STM) es propuesto como un importante protocolo para asegurar la atención a los pacientes por criterios de gravedad clínica. Entre los pacientes priorizados están los que tienen dolor precordial o cardiaco. Sin embargo, la heterogeneidad del dolor torácico puede llevar a una clasificación de menor gravedad, lo que retrasa el inicio de la terapia para los pacientes con Infarto Agudo de Miocardio (IAM). Por lo tanto, este estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar los determinantes de la prioridad de atención por el STM para los pacientes con IAM. Se desarrolló un estudio de cohorte retrospectivo en el servicio de urgencias en el sur de Brasil, con una muestra de 217 pacientes con diagnóstico médico primario de IAM. La recolección de datos fue realizada en la historia clínica, en el periodo entre marzo/2014 y febrero/2015. Para el análisis estadístico de los datos los pacientes fueron clasificados en dos grupos: prioridad elevada (inmediata y muy urgente) y prioridad no elevada (urgente, menos urgente y no urgente). El proyecto de investigación fue aprobado por el comité de ética. Los resultados mostraron que el sexo masculino eran la mayoría, con una edad media de 62,1± 12,4 años y predominio de los factores de riesgo hipertensión y tabaquismo. Para 116 (53,4%) pacientes fue atribuida la prioridad no elevada de atención por el STM. Sesenta y cuatro (29,5%) pacientes tuvieron IAM con supradesnivel del segmento ST, 29 (45,3%) de ellos recibió prioridad no elevada. El flujograma Dolor torácica (77,9%) y los discriminadores Dolor precordial o cardiaco (27,6%) y Dolor moderado (22,5%) fueron los más seleccionados. Tos y dolor abdominal (p=0,039), tiempo de inicio de los síntomas superior a 24 horas (p<0,001) e intensidad del dolor leve a moderado (p=0,002) fueron predictores clínicos asociados a la determinación de la prioridad no elevada. Sudoración (p=0,048) y niveles elevados de presión arterial sistólica (p=0,011) y diastólica (p=0,003) fueron asociados a la prioridad elevada. Hubo asociación entre prioridad no elevada con tiempos para clasificación de riesgo (p<0,001), puerta-ECG (p<0,001) y puerta-troponina mayores (p=0,008). No fue identificada diferencia estadísticamente significativa entre los dos grupos para los tiempos puerta-aguja (p=0,600) y puerta-balón (p=0,345). Los resultados proporcionaron subsidios para el juicio clínico del enfermero que realiza el triaje.

Patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) often suffer from more than physical ailments when seeking care and treatment. Some of these patients have emotional ailments and suicidal ideation when they come to the local ED. The lack of recognition of at-risk patients by health care providers can lead to poor patient outcomes and death. The focus of this project was to understand which valid and reliable suicide assessment tools described in the literature were considered the best evidence-based instruments to identify ED patients who were at risk for suicide. Peplau's theory of interpersonal relations guided this project. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to assess tools that were used for the identification of at-risk patients. Analysis of the included literature was conducted using Melnyk's levels of evidence and a preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses tool to catalog the articles retrieved. Ten articles were included in the study. Final analysis of the articles identified the need for 100% of patients to be assessed for suicide risk upon arrival at the ED. The instrument identified to meet the need for the local organization was the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Screening tool. The findings of this project might promote social change by providing insights into best practice assessment tools to support improved assessment of suicide risk for ED patients.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice