Asthma is a disease that compromises the airways of the respiratory system, and is a prominent reason for hospitalization and emergency care needs. Over 6.1 million children are estimated to suffer from asthma. Asthmatic patients at an urban pediatric hospital emergency department (ED) were found to have higher revisit rates than the national average for large urban hospitals. The lack of a clinical guideline for educating families in patient care management at home could have contributed to readmission rates. The purpose of this project was to develop an evidence-based pediatric asthma education clinical guideline to aide healthcare providers with discharge education and home management of the pediatric asthmatic patient. The practice question that guided this project focused on discovering what evidence-based pediatric asthma guidelines could be found in the literature for providing discharge education instructions for the pediatric asthma patient from which the guideline for the ED could be developed. The appraisal of guidelines research and evaluation II instrument was used to guide and score the project. An expert panel consisting of the nurse educator of the ED and medical directors of the ED and Pulmonology scored the guideline resulting in an overall score of 83%. The experts recommended the guideline without modification. Providing families with education on home patient management might enable caretakers to identify problems, recognize potential exacerbations, and prevent return visits to the ED, resulting in social change by improving the wellbeing of pediatric patients with asthma and their families.

Background: Overcrowding and long waiting times are common in emergency departments. Organizational problems, staff- and hospital bed shortages leads to long waiting times. A consequence of the long waiting time is that patients' leave without being seen. Aim: The aim of this study was to understand patient's experiences of waiting at the emergency department. Method: This is a literature study based on qualitative articles. Ten qualitative articles were included in this study. Results: The findings in this study revealed three main themes; Being a patient, Meeting with healthcare and The environment at the emergency department. The patients' experience feelings of lack of control, abandonment, frustration and develop different strategies to deal with the waiting time. Patients' describe how they feel ignored and lacking information about waiting times and treatment. The emergency department environment affects the patient's experience during the waiting period. Conclusion: Improvement measures are needed to improve the environment at the Emergency department to make waiting time easier. The waiting time experience is improved when nurses are present and available to provide support.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Injuries to people living and working on farms in New South Wales continue to be a significant burden on the health system, Workers’ Compensation system, agricultural industries and farming families. Strategies to reduce the number and severity of injuries suffered by farmers and people working on farms rely on accurate information. Unfortunately there is no one dataset available to describe the circumstances surrounding farm injuries and the size of this burden in Australia. Hence, a number of different data sources are required to provide a picture of farm injuries. To date, there has been very little critical examination of what value each of these datasets provides to describing farm injuries. This Thesis aimed to: • Undertake surveillance of injuries occurring to people on farms or during agricultural production in NSW using data from an Emergency Department, NSW Hospital Separations information, NSW Workers’ Compensation Claims, and ABS Deaths data. • Critically examine the utility of Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths Data for the surveillance of farm injuries in NSW. • Critically examine data classification systems used in Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths data collections to describe the breadth of farm injuries in NSW. • Define the priority areas for farm injury prevention initiatives in NSW based on the information obtained from the examination of the data from Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths. • Evaluate the effectiveness of the NSW Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) rebate scheme and examine the utility of the data currently available in NSW to measure the performance of the program. Four datasets, Tamworth Emergency Department, Hospital Separations, Workers’ Compensation and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Deaths data were used to provide information on the surveillance of farm injuries, describe the breadth of classifications used to describe farm injuries, and define priorities for the prevention of farm injuries. There were 384 farm-related injuries which presented to the Emergency Department at the Tamworth Base Hospital between 1 September 1997 and 31 August 1998. Emergency Department data collected in this study used the Farm Injury Optimal Dataset (FIOD) for classification, which allowed for a comprehensive picture of the circumstances surrounding the injury event. The three most common external causes of injury were related to horses, motorcycles, and animals. Commonly people were working at the time of injury. Children represented 21% of the people injured. The average number of injuries per 100 farms per annum was 34.7. An examination of hospital discharge data for NSW was undertaken for the period 1 July 1992 to 30 June 2000 where the location of the injury was a farm. Classification of cases in this dataset conformed to the International Classification of Disease (ICD) versions 9 and 10. There were 14,490 people who were injured on a farm during the study period. The three most common external causes of injury were motorcycles, animals being ridden and agricultural machinery. Children represented 17% of all farm injury cases. The rate per 1,000 farms ranged from 19 to 42 per annum. An examination of Workers’ Compensation claims for agricultural industries in NSW between 1 July 1992 and 30 June 2001 was undertaken. The ‘Type of Occurrence’ classification system was used to code the claims. There were 24,332 claims of which the majority were males (82%). The incidence of injury / disease in agriculture per annum varied from 37 per 1,000 workers to 73 per 1,000 workers. The rate per 1,000 agricultural establishments varied from 54 to 76. The average cost of a claim was $10,880 and the average time lost per claims was 9.2 weeks. There were 81 deaths and 3,158 permanent disabilities. The three most common agents were sheep / goats (5%), ferrous and non-ferrous metals (5%), crates / cartons / boxes / etc (5%). Using ABS deaths data to examine the deaths of people working and living on farms was limited to males whose occupation was recorded as ‘farmer and farm manager’ and ‘agricultural labourer and related worker’. There were 952 deaths over the period 1 January 1991 and 31 December 2000. The information provided a consistent series of cases over time. Areas where prevention should be directed included motor vehicle accidents; falls; agricultural machinery; other machinery; firearms; poisoning; and drowning. Using any one of the datasets alone to examine people injured on farms not only underestimates the number of people injured, but also misses particular types of agents involved in farm injuries. Each of the datasets used in this Thesis provides a different perspective of farm injury in NSW. By examining the information together, there are a number of areas which are consistently represented in each dataset such as falls and agricultural machinery. While no one dataset provided all the information that would be useful for the prevention of injuries, the available information does provide direction for the development of prevention strategies. The overall weakness of the information provided is that it misses a number of risk factors that contribute to farm injuries such as fatigue and training. The lack of appropriate denominator information also makes it difficult to directly compare the datasets and estimate the size of the problem. There are a number of additional coding categories that could be included in each dataset that would provide a better understanding of the different groups at risk of sustaining an injury on a farm or during agricultural work. These coding categories include activity at time of injury, admission to hospital, and occupation. An example of the use of data to determine the effectiveness of a farm injury prevention program is the ‘NSW Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) Rebate Scheme’ evaluation. Tractor rollover deaths have been identified as an issue for prevention by Farmsafe Australia; however, such deaths were not identified in any of the datasets used in this Thesis due to coding limitations in the ABS data. In this Thesis information about the evaluation of the ‘NSW ROPS Rebate Scheme’ is presented. The scheme was successful in fitting 10,449 ROPS to tractors and the following lessons were learnt: when providing a rebate, the administration (i.e. sending the cheque) needs to be done well; advertising is important and should be co-ordinated, increase the awareness of the risk(s) the intervention is aiming to prevent and effectiveness of subsequent solution (s); the program should ensure there is an increased awareness of the outcome the intervention is aiming to prevent; if regulation is part of the program, enforcement needs to undertaken; and should address any barriers to uptake. The information provided in this Thesis highlights the substantial burden that farm injury places on the agricultural and rural sector of NSW. While there is no one data source that can describe the circumstances and the burden of farm injuries, the currently available datasets do provide an insight into the circumstances of farm injuries and the burden these injuries place on health, Workers’ Compensation, agricultural industries and farming families.

<p>Bakgrund: Överrapportering från ambulanspersonal till mottagande sjuksköterska på akutmottagning är en viktig process som påverkar både den fortsatta vårdkvaliteten och patientsäkerheten. Den ideala överrapporteringen bör vara patientfokuserad med identifierbara problem klart formulerade, dessutom skall överrapporteringen till sitt utförande vara kort och koncis. Dock är överrapportering en process som inte alltid förlöper problemfritt varför behov om att undersöka detta närmare föreligger.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva i vilken utsträckning ambulanspersonal och sjuksköterskor på akutmottagning är tillfredsställda med den överrapportering som sker, samt redogöra för vad respektive personalgrupp anser vara viktig information.</p><p>Metod: Samtliga anställda inom ambulanssjukvården i Jämtlands läns och samtliga sjuksköterskor på akutmottagningen vid Östersunds sjukhus tillfrågades om deltagande. Totalt kom 116 individer (71,6%) att delta. Datainsamlingen genomfördes med enkät bestående både av slutna frågor och av öppna frågor.</p><p>Resultat: Resultatet visar på skillnader mellan de båda yrkeskategorierna både vad gäller vilken information man anser viktig och synen på överrapportering i stort. Ambulanspersonalen uppger brist på intresse och aktivt lyssnade från mottagande sjuksköterska som ett negativt inslag. Sjuksköterska på akutmottagning efterlyser mera strukturerade överrapporteringar.</p><p>Slutsats: Studien uppvisar en generellt positiv bild vad gäller överrapporteringen från ambulanspersonal till sjuksköterska på akutmottagning. En bättre struktur, både vad gäller innehållet och organiseringen, av överrapporteringen är dock önskvärt i syfte att vidareförmedla informationen på ett mer kortfattat och strukturerat sätt.</p> / <p>Background: Handover from emergency medical technicians to the receiving nurse in the emergency department is an important process that affects both the continuing quality of care and patient safety. The ideal handover should be patient-centered with identifiable problems clearly expressed; moreover, the handover should be brief and concise. However, handover is a process which does not always proceeds smoothly wherefore there is a need to investigate this further.</p><p>Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the extent to which emergency medical technicians and nurses in the emergency department is satisfied with the handover that takes place, and to explain what each profession consider to be important information.</p><p>Methods: All employees within the ambulance health care service in Jämtland County, and all nurses in the emergency department at the hospital of Östersund were asked to participate. In total, 116 individuals (71.6%) participated. The data collection was carried out by using questionnaires, consisting of both closed and open questions.</p><p>Results: The result shows differences between the two professions both in terms of what information they consider to be important and in the attitude towards handover in general. Emergency medical technicians indicates lack of interest and lack of active listening from the receiving nurse as a negative element. Nurses in the emergency department calls for more structure in the handover process.</p><p>Conclusion: The study shows a generally positive picture in terms of handover from emergency medical technicians to nurses in the emergency department. A better structure, both in terms of content and organization, of the handover-process is however desirable in order to communicate information in a more concise and structured way.</p>

<p>The pressure is getting tougher on Accident and Emergency departments. Therefore it is crucial to study how the patient’s perceive their visit to the Emergency department. Knowledge about this enables improvement of routines, patient participation and patient safety. The purpose of the study was to investigate patient’s experiences of their visit at the Emergency department.</p><p>A descriptive design was used. Patients (n=91) who visited the Emergency department at Uppsala University Hospital during two weeks in October 2009, answered a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 13 questions about the visit, waiting time and information.</p><p>The result showed that most of the patients found that the waiting time was acceptable and they perceived that the staff was competent and professional. On the other hand most patients perceived that they did not receive enough information of the prioritization of the patients in the Emergency department and information about expected waiting time.</p><p>The study result shows that one part of the patient didn´t get information about expecting waiting time and the order of priority and the conclusion was that the study shows that the majority of the patients perceived their Emergency department visit as positive.</p>

Syftet med denna kvalitativa intervjustudie var att belysa vad sjuksköterskor på ambulansen respektive akutmottagningen ansåg vara viktig information till patienter med akuta bröstsmärtor samt vad som var viktigt att tänka på vid informering av dem. Tio intervjuer med sjuksköterskor utfördes, fem på ambulansen samt fem på akutmottagningen. Resultatet har delats upp utifrån de olika arbetsplatserna. Resultatet visade att det fanns stora likheter i hur sjuksköterskorna svarade på frågorna som ställts. Det som ansågs viktigt att ge information om var vad som skedde och varför, det var även viktigt att informera om läkemedel och dess biverkningar och att med den information de gav, lugna patienterna. En stor punkt som kom upp från båda arbetsplatserna var att det var viktigt att informera om det som patienten frågade efter. På ambulansen ansåg sjuksköterskorna även att det var viktigt att försöka hålla informationen till det som var viktigt och relevant för patienten. Sjuksköterskorna på akutmottagningen ansåg att det var viktigt att informera så mycket som möjligt och att hålla patienten uppdaterad. / The aim of this qualitative interview study was to elucidate what nurses at ambulance and emergency department thought was important information to give to patients with acute chest pain and what was important to think about when informing them. Ten interviews with nurses was performed, five at the ambulance and five at the emergency department. The result has been divided between the two workplaces. The study showed that there where large similarities in how the nurses responded to the questions asked. The objects that was thought of as important was to give information about what happened and why, it was also important to give information about pharmaceuticals and it´s side effects and with the information that they gave, try to calm the patients down. A large item that came up was that it was important to inform about what the patients asked for. At the ambulance the nurses also thought that it was important to try to keep the information to what was important and relevant to the patient. The nurses at the emergency department thought that it was important to inform as much as possible and keep the patient updated.

Background: About 800,000 people are risky drinkers in Sweden and the alcohol consumption has increased around 30% during the last 6 years. In order to counteract the negative effects of drinking there is a need to implement preventive measures at various levels in society. One place where risky drinkers could be identified is the healthcare setting. More than 10% of the visits at emergency departments and 20% of the injuries have been found to be alcohol‐related. So far, very few risky drinkers attending emergency departments receive advice about sensible drinking although there is good research evidence of the efficacy of such advice. Aim: The main aim was to explore the effects of a simple alcohol preventive routine in emergency care on staffs´ attitudes towards alcohol prevention and injury patients´ drinking pattern. Material and methods: A screening and simple advice routine was introduced at the emergency department of Motala County hospital. The staffs´ attitudes were explored by interviews with 12 staff members before the introduction and in 6 follow‐up interviews after a year. All the triage staffs´ attitudes were also measured by a questionnaire before the start of the routine and after 6 months. During the first 6 months of the routine 878 injury patients between 16 and 70 completed an alcohol screening questionnaire. During the next 6 months 647 patients received written advice about sensible drinking after having completed the screening questionnaire. A total of 619 patients included in the 12 months study period were followed‐up by telephone interview and changes in drinking pattern were analyzed. After a further 6 months of intervention a total of 2151 patients had been completing the questionnaire during the total study period of 18 months. The association between drinking pattern and different injury variables was analyzed in order to identify special risk groups and situations. Results: The staff was generally positive to alcohol prevention before the routine started and it was completed as intended. After 6 months of screening the staffs´ role legitimacy and perceived skills had increased. Despite of a further positive change in attitudes towards alcohol prevention the staff was uncertain after the study period whether emergency departments are appropriate settings for alcohol prevention. A total of 9% of the women and 31% of the men attending the emergency department for an injury were defined as risky drinkers. One single item in the questionnaire, concerning frequency of heavy episodic drinking, identified the majority of risky drinkers. In the cohort of patients,who was only screened, 34% was no longer engaged in heavy episodic drinking after 6 months and in the cohort that received written advice in addition to the screening the proportion was 25%. The latter group also increased readiness to change by 14%. The proportion of risky drinkers was higher among injury patients, 21% compared to 15% in the general population in the cathment area. This was mostly explained by a higher proportion of young men in the study group. When drinking pattern was compared, both risky and non‐risky drinkers proved to be significantly more likely than abstainers to be injured in amusement locations, parks, lakes or seas and during play or other recreational activities, when controlling for age and sex. Nine percent of the injury patients reported that they believed that their injury was related to alcohol. Half of this group was non risky‐drinkers. Conclusions: The triage staff performed the intervention as agreed, and in some aspects, which could facilitate further development of alcohol preventive measures, their attitudes changed positively. However, it appears difficult to expect alcohol preventive measures to involve more of the staff’s time than the routine tried, and other practical solutions have to be evaluated. A question about frequency of heavy episodic drinking identified the majority of risky drinkers and could be used as a single screening question. There was a reasonable reduction in heavy episodic drinking among the injury patients. The lack of a control group makes it difficult to fully explain whether this change is a result of the injury per se, the screening and the written advice procedure or a natural fluctuation in the patients´ drinking pattern. More studies are needed in order to establish the minimal levels of intervention in routine care that is accepted by the staff, and has a reasonable effect on risky drinkers’ alcohol consumption.

Aim: The overall aim of the present thesis was to examine, develop and evaluate patient participation in emergency department (ED) for promoting the relief of suffering for patients in care relations, from the perspective of patients and caregivers. Method: The explorative studies (I, II) were based on reflective lifeworld approach and analyzed by phenomenographic method. Data were collected from interviews by patients (9) and caregivers (11) about their conception of patient participation in ED. The methodological study (III) performed analyses and were tested for content, construct and criterion validity as well as homogeneity and stability reliability. The sample for study (III, IV) consisted of 356 patients consecutively cared for in EDs in Sweden. In the evaluating study (IV) the questionnaire Patient Participation Emergency Department (PPED) was used. The statistical methods handled were Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA and Spearman correlation. Findings: The patients’ conception of patient participation means: being acknowledged; struggling to become involved; and having a clear space (I). The caregivers’ conceptions of patient participation can be divided into three different descriptive categories: Caregivers offer the opportunity for participation, Patients demand participation and Mutual participation (II). A 17- item questionnaire was developed. Two separate factor analyses revealed a distinct four- factor solution which was labelled: Fight for participation, Requirement for participation, Mutual participation and Participating in getting basic needs satisfied. Criterion validity presented showed 9 out of 20 correlations equal or above 0.30. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient ranged from 0.63 - 0.84 and test- retest varied between 0.59 and 0.93(III).The results show that patient participation is low in two dimensions (Fight for participation, Participation in getting basic needs satisfied), reasonable in one dimension (Mutual participation), and high in one dimension, Requirement for participation (IV). Conclusions: Participation does occur on occasion when the circumstances are right despite international and national guidelines that lay down the need for patient participation. Patient participation in EDs is perceived when patients are in contact with caregivers and there is space for collaboration in situations of consistency. However, patient participation cannot be offered in a one-sided caring action. In collaboration patient participation contributes to the relief of suffering in the process of health and patients participate when they are allowed to be the point of departure for caring. However, the results point to a lack of strategy for patient participation and for increased patient participation to take place improvements in external organization requirements are required. The results indicate an amplified clarity in how patient participation can be understood for EDs, in education and community and a scientific tested instrument has made it possible to evaluate patient participation.

In 1995 and 2000 a total of 29 886 non surgical ED visits at Uppsala University Hospital were registered. Presenting complaint, admittance to a ward, length of stay, in-hospital mortality, discharge diagnoses, 30-day and long-term mortality were registered. The presenting complaints were sorted into 33 presenting complaint groups (PCGs). For different PCGs there was different in-hospital fatality rate. Compared to the largest PCG, chest pain, the gender and age adjusted OR was 2.12 (95% CI 1.01 – 4.44) for the miscellaneous complaint group and 2.04 (95 % CI 1.35 – 3.08) for the stroke–like symptom group. Within a given PCG the in-hospital mortality could vary depending on discharge diagnoses. By relating PCG and long term mortality to the expected mortality in the population, the Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR) could be calculated. The SMR was found to be highest in seizure 2.62 (95 % CI 2.13 – 3.22), intoxication 2.51 (95% CI 2.11-2.98) and symptoms of asthma 1.8 (1.65 – 2.06). For the same discharge diagnoses the long term mortality could differ considerably depending on PCG at ED arrival (p&lt;0.001). Between 1995 and 2000 there was a 30 % increase in ED visits at the non surgical ED. PCGs representing lesser severe conditions had increased. Demographic changes could account for 45 % of the increment and the remaining increase could be ascribed to change in visiting pattern. In the 2000 cohort 41.0 % of all visits were performed by re-visitors. The number of revisits and five-year mortality had an inversed u-shaped relationship were patients with three re-visits within the same year had an increased mortality compared to patients with more or less visits. Conclusion: It is possible to define presenting complaint groups (PCGs) that are robust and consistent over time and useful as a tool for epidemiological studies in the ED.

The pressure is getting tougher on Accident and Emergency departments. Therefore it is crucial to study how the patient’s perceive their visit to the Emergency department. Knowledge about this enables improvement of routines, patient participation and patient safety. The purpose of the study was to investigate patient’s experiences of their visit at the Emergency department. A descriptive design was used. Patients (n=91) who visited the Emergency department at Uppsala University Hospital during two weeks in October 2009, answered a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 13 questions about the visit, waiting time and information. The result showed that most of the patients found that the waiting time was acceptable and they perceived that the staff was competent and professional. On the other hand most patients perceived that they did not receive enough information of the prioritization of the patients in the Emergency department and information about expected waiting time. The study result shows that one part of the patient didn´t get information about expecting waiting time and the order of priority and the conclusion was that the study shows that the majority of the patients perceived their Emergency department visit as positive.