Addressing Nurse Burnout: Moving Beyond the Conversation.

BACKGROUND: Nurse burnout is a widespread issue in the health care industry, jeopardizing the well-being of both health care professionals and the patients they serve, manifesting as an intense sense of exhaustion, depersonalization, and a diminished sense of personal achievement. METHOD: In nursing, professionals are exposed to an extraordinary array of challenges and demands that increase their likelihood of experiencing burnout and resulting mental health issues. Although burnout has been aggressively discussed and studied in recent years, strategies for preventing and mitigating burnout have been underreported. RESULTS: This article highlights leading causes of burnout, delves into its alarming prevalence, and underscores the critical need for comprehensive strategies to address and prevent it. CONCLUSION: This article highlights several initiatives established by a resilience program at a college of nursing that can be implemented within health care systems to directly address both individual and organizational burnout. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 202x;5x(x):xx-xx.].

Trichomonas Infection Rates in Males Presenting to the Emergency Department for Sexually Transmitted Infections.

BACKGROUND: Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Overall prevalence is reported to be 3.1%, with rates approaching 12.9-14.4% in high-risk female populations. Although there is a plethora of data on TV in the female population, the corresponding data for the male population are limited. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine the infection rate of TV in male patients seeking care for STIs in the emergency department (ED) and determine the symptoms associated with TV infection in male patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of male patients aged 13 years or older who presented to the ED for STI evaluation. Male patients included had nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) TV testing as part of standard STI evaluation. RESULTS: Of the 2137 male patients included, 95 (4.4%) were positive for TV. Male patients who tested positive were significantly older (mean age 38.9 years vs. 30.7 years for male patients who tested negative; p < 0.05). Black male patients were more likely than White male patients to be positive for TV (6.3% prevalence vs. 1.8%; p < 0.05). TV-positive male patients were more likely to have discharge, specifically clear penile discharge, on examination (p < 0.05), and were less likely to have testicular pain or testicular tenderness (p < 0.05). Higher rates of TV were seen in an urban (4.9%) compared with suburban ED (1.6%; p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Rates of TV in male patients who receive STI testing in the ED are similar to rates published previously for female patients. We found higher rates among older and African-American male patients. TV among male patients is prevalent and testing should continue when evaluating for STIs.

Women in Emergency Medicine Residency Programs: An Analysis of Data From Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved Residency Programs.

OBJECTIVE: Understanding the factors associated with attracting women to a residency program would help residency program leadership build programs that are appealing to women candidates. The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with the percentage of women residents in emergency medicine (EM) residency programs. METHODS: A list of 161 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved EM residencies was compiled. The public websites for each of the residencies was queried for information on the following variables: residency region (Midwest, Northeast, South, West), residency length (3 years vs. 4 years), sex of the department chair, sex of the program director (PD), percentage of women faculty, and the number of residents by graduation class and sex. RESULTS: The websites of 161 EM residencies were reviewed. Complete data were available from a total of 143 programs representing 4,547 residents from the studied classes of 2014, 2015, and 2016. Overall, 38% were women (n = 1,743). The percentage of women residents per program varied from 0% to 68% across residency programs. There was no association between the percentage of women residents and residency region, sex of the department chair, and sex of the PD. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, there was no evidence that EM residencies with a greater percentage of women faculty and women in select leadership roles had a greater percentage of women residents. There was also no evidence for regional variability in women's selection of residency programs. This study was limited to publicly available data and cannot address the many other complex factors which may play a role in women's decision making when choosing a residency.