Self-harm among younger people.

More than 60,000 younger people present to UK EDs each year after self-harming. Among people aged between 11 and 15, the incidence is 2 per cent, but this rises to 9 per cent among those with anxiety disorders and 19 per cent among those with depression.

A new approach to triage.

The author of this study argues that research and anecdotal evidence suggest there is significant diversity in how nurses triage, assess and prioritise patients, and that this can threaten patient safety.

Emergency care attendance.

Despite the launch of initiatives to ensure that patients are directed to appropriate services for their health needs, attendances at emergency departments (EDs) continue to rise. One suggestion is that this could be related to changes in primary care services.

Deep vein thrombosis.

This ED study was undertaken to determine inter-observer variability between emergency consultant doctors and nurse practitioners in the use of the Wells score in the assessment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Good communication.

Good communication is essential to providing high quality patient care especially in the often chaotic environment of emergency departments (EDs).

Chest pain services.

Ever since a survey in 2001 showed substantial variation in services for, and management of, acute, undifferentiated chest pain, the Department of Health has encouraged the development of chest pain units (CPUs) so that patients presenting with this condition receive better care.

Board's eye view.

Over the past few years, negative media increased. coverage of nursing has steadily.

Bereavement follow-up.

Most deaths in emergency departments (EDs) are sudden and unexpected, and studies suggest that people who are bereaved require comprehensible accounts of how such deaths occurred in order to return to their pre-bereavement levels of social and emotional function.

Waiting times.

In recent years, waiting times have been a major concern for most emergency departments.

Paediatric triage tape.

The 'paediatric triage tape' (PTT) is an easy-to-use major incident primary triage tool that is based on a modified triage sieve. The purpose of this study was to validate prospectively the PTT for use in paediatric major incidents.

Treating headaches.

The objective of this north American study is to evaluate whether or not the addition of intra-venous dexamethasone to standard emergency to standard emergency department (ED) therapy for benign head-ache reduces the incidence of headache reoccurrence at between 48 and 72 hours.

Eye emergencies.

This study compares the accuracy and reliability of emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs) with those of junior A&E doctors, namely senior house officers (SHOs), when assessing eye emergencies.

Severe ankle sprains.

This study set out to determine current practice in large UK emergency departments in managing severe ankle sprains. Despite the current focus on evidence based practice, best practice and equality in patient care, the survey suggests that there is considerable variation in some aspects of clinical approach.