Welcome to the Current Issues section of the International Journal of Emergency and Rapid Response Nursing (IJERRN). This page offers access to the latest research and past issues, showcasing scholarly work dedicated to the advancement of emergency and rapid response nursing practice.
Featured Articles in the Latest Issue
- Volume 2 (Issue 1) JANUARY- JUNE 2026
Research Articles
Rapid Triage Protocol Optimization for Overcrowded Emergency Departments: A Prospective Cohort Study
Vol.2(1); Pages:1-13. Published on March-2026
Abstract
The issue of emergency department overcrowding is still a significant concern in numerous countries of the world, as it imposes a lot of pressure on frontline nursing teams that are expected to provide rapid patient assessment. This paper was an evaluation of the usefulness of an adapted nurse-led triage protocol to enhance patient prioritization and decrease waiting time in busy emergency departments. The prospective cohort design was applied to two urban emergency departments with trained triage nurses to apply a structured raped assessment algorithm that included early warning factors and nurse-requested diagnostic precipitants. The results of 1,284 patient encounters were examined during four months. The results were data on triage accuracy, time-to-treatment and nurse workload. Findings showed that there was a statistically significant reduction in median triage-to-physician contact time, which fell to 27 minutes as compared to 41 minutes after the implementation of the optimized protocol. Increased confidence in their decisions and efficiency in their workflow as a result of better identification of priorities were also reported by nurses. Notably, no rise in the negative triage misclassifications was realized. The results indicate that better nurse-based triage systems could significantly increase the responsiveness of the emergency department without the risk of patient safety. Implementation of standardized rapid evaluation models could enhance the practice of emergency nurses and operational resilience in the overcrowded care settings.
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Simulation-Based Training for Mass Casualty Response Among Emergency Nurses
Vol.2(1); Pages:14-22. Published on March-2026
Abstract
Emergency nursing demands the skilled situational awareness and promotes a quick clinical coordination when responding to the mass casualty incidents. Nonetheless, there is a lack of real life exposure to such events as reported by many nurses, which underscores the need to have preparedness training based on simulation. This was a randomized controlled simulation trial study that tested the hypothesis of whether immersive disaster simulations enhance triage accuracy, team work communication and response effectiveness among emergency nurses. Randomly, 84 nurses in three tertiary hospitals were assigned to either a program of usual lectures on disaster training or a high-fidelity program of simulation involving patient surge scenario-driven, interprofessional coordination, and time-limited triage decision making. The performance measures were evaluated when simulated disaster scenarios occurred four weeks after the training. The scores of triage accuracy and the time taken by nurses to categorize patients were much higher in the simulation group than in the cohort trained using lectures. Second, the score of teamwork communication increased significantly in the simulation group that indicates the ability to coordinate better in high-stress environment. There was also an increase in confidence of managing unpredictable disaster environments by the participants. As the results show, emergency nursing preparedness can be reinforced significantly with the help of the structured disaster training on the basis of simulation. Disaster simulations that involve high-fidelity simulation can be incorporated into the ongoing nursing education to enable healthcare systems to develop more resilient emergency response units that can handle complex and large-scale incidents.
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Nurse-Initiated Pain Management Protocols in Acute Trauma Care: A Quasi-Experimental Study
Vol.2(1); Pages:23-30. Published on April-2026
Abstract
Pain management in patients with trauma is an important part of emergency management, but there is a tendency to delay in the treatment when the decision to administer analgesia is made only by the physician. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the effect of a nurse-initiated analgesia protocol on the timeliness of treatment and patient pain outcomes in one of an urban trauma center. Emergency nurses were given permission to prescribe standardized analgesic interventions to the qualified trauma presentations according to the set assessments requirements. The results of 642 patients with trauma were compared at both, pre implementation and post-implementation phases. The main outcomes were time since the triage and administration of the first analgesic, patient-reported pain level, and patient satisfaction with pain management. After the introduction of the protocol, the median time to analgesia dropped by 56 minutes to 24 minutes, which shows a significant increase in responsiveness to care. The patients at the intervention phase also indicated that the pain intensity reduced more during the initial hour of treatment. Notably, the number of adverse events during medication did not increase, which shows that trained nurses can prescribe analgesic treatment under the influence of evidence-based guidelines. The results suggest the need to broaden nurse-led treatment pathways in the emergency treatment of trauma to improve patient results and speed up symptom alleviation.
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Communication Barriers During High-Acuity Resuscitation Events: A Mixed-Methods Study in Emergency Nursing Teams
Vol.2(1); Pages:31-38. Published on April-2026
Abstract
Emergency nurses and multidisciplinary clinicians should work together in a coordinated manner to communicate with each other during the events of high-acuity resuscitation. Problems in communication in such time-sensitive scenarios can undermine patient results and raise delays in the procedures. This was a mixed-methods study that sought to examine the barriers to communication in emergency nursing teams when faced with a resuscitation situation in three tertiary care hospitals. Quantitative data were gathered by structured observation of 96 situations during resuscitation, whereas the qualitative data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews with the involved nurses. It was identified in the observations that during almost 1/3 of the resuscitation instances, the communication mistakes were committed, and they often concerned ambiguous verbal messages, duplication of instructions, and slow confirmation of the most important interventions. The interview data also identified the environmental noise, hierarchical team members interactions and cognitive overload as factors that led to communication problems. Nurses focused on the importance of structured communication systems like closed-loop communication and appointment of roles to teams. It was found that implementation of the standardized communication training and simulation-based teamwork exercises can be used as the effective measures to enhance the coordination. The paper highlights the necessity to improve communication structures among emergency nursing personnel to increase patient safety in the circumstances of high-pressure resuscitation.
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Emergency Nurses’ Application of Early Warning Scoring Systems for Early Sepsis Recognition
Vol.2(1); Pages:39-48. Published on April-2026
Abstract
Timely identification of sepsis in emergency units is critical with its prompt treatment and survival of patients. Emergency nurses often are the first clinicians to pick up physiological deterioration at the earliest stage. The current cross-sectional analytical research was aimed at assessing the effectiveness of emergency nurses in using early warning scoring systems in the detection of possible sepsis patients at the triage stage and in the first assessment. It was done using a sample size of 312 emergency nurses in 5 tertiary hospitals who were invited to take part in a well-organized clinical situation examination and knowledge survey on the use of early warning score. The findings showed that nurses who had formal training in early warning scoring were much more accurate in the recognition of early signs of sepsis than nurses who lacked specialized training. The nurses also indicated that the automated scoring tools that are embedded in the electronic triage systems enhanced clinical decision making and decreased cognitive load during high workload shifts. Although these strengths were realized, there are participants who stated that they were not sure how to interpret borderline scores and escalate care accordingly. The results demonstrate the necessity of special training interventions on sepsis recognition and escalation guidelines. Improving the expertise of nurses in the use of the early warning score can help significantly to detect the early signs of sepsis and start life-saving measures in emergency departments.
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