An assistant workforce to improve screening rates and quality of care for older patients in the emergency department: findings of a pre- post, mixed methods study

BMC Geriatrics
Carolyn HullickJohn Attia

Abstract

Older people who present to the Emergency Department (ED) experience high rates of prevalent and incident delirium. This study aimed to determine whether an assistant workforce in the ED could effectively conduct screening to inform assessment and care planning for older people as well as enhance supportive care activities for prevention of delirium. Using a pre-post design, data was collected before and after the introduction of Older Person Technical Assistants (OPTAs) in the ED. OPTA activity was recorded during the intervention period and a medical record audit undertaken prior to and 9 months after implementation. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics for OPTA activities. Weighted Kappa scores were calculated comparing concordance in screening scores between OPTAs and Aged Services Emergency Team Registered Nurses. Changes in the rates of documented screening and supportive care were analysed using Chi-square tests. Focus groups were conducted to explore clinicians' experiences of the OPTA role. Three thousand five hundred fourty two people were seen by OPTAs in 4563 ED Presentations between 1st July 2011 and 2012. The reproducibility of all screening tools were found to be high between the OPTAs and the RNs, wit...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 3, 2020·Academic Emergency Medicine : Official Journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine·Christopher R CarpenterUNKNOWN GEAR Network
Sep 19, 2021·Emergency Medicine Australasia : EMA·Lachlan SwanGlenn Arendts
Nov 11, 2021·Gerontology & Geriatrics Education·Debra K LitzelmanJulie Vannerson
Dec 24, 2021·Nursing & Health Sciences·Carolyn HullickJohn Attia

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