Emergency Room Nurses Play Key Role in Injury Prevention

Time, education and resources are obstacles to implementation

MONDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- Injury prevention education of patients with minor injuries seen by hospital emergency department nurses is important, but at the present time, strategies are varied and not consistently implemented due to limitations of time and resources, as well as lack of injury prevention education for nurses, according to a report published in the April issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing.

Laura Wilding, R.N., of the Ottawa Hospital in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues surveyed 150 registered nurses working at an adult level 1 trauma center to ascertain whether they educated patients about injury prevention, whether or not they thought it was important, and if so, what the obstacles were to implementation of injury prevention strategies.

Nurses reported that they believed injury prevention was important and relevant to their work. The nurses implemented injury prevention strategies, but they were not consistent in doing so, and cited lack of time and resources as barriers to promoting injury prevention.

"Emergency nurses may be key individuals to engage in the provision of injury prevention education to patients presenting to the emergency department with minor injuries," the authors conclude. "Providing the 'near miss' patient population with current, evidence-based education may prevent future injury. Providing the emergency nurse with education and accessible teaching resources would facilitate the nurse in educating patients and their families in injury prevention."

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