ED overcrowding: an assessment tool to monitor ED registered nurse workload that accounts for admitted patients residing in the emergency department.

摘要

ED overcrowding has been gaining national attention in recent years. It is becoming apparent that, like the canary in the coal mine, ED conditions are emblematic of systemwide health care failures: too many patients, not enough room, inadequate resources, and inadequate reimbursement. The causes of ED overcrowding are myriad, but government reports1 and most ED directors agree that the inability to move admitted patients to an inpatient bed critically compromises the ED mission of caring for incoming acute patients. These unevaluated patients are the most at risk for unexpected adverse outcomes, because they have not had their disease process evaluated nor their treatment initiated.