Abstract
Christien van der Linden and colleagues discuss staff opinions of a system introduced to ease the pressure on beds in an emergency department
The Haaglanden Medical Centre, the Hague, Netherlands, has opened a ‘virtual’ acute admission unit (VAAU) to increase throughput of acute patients. The VAAU consists of 15 inpatient beds located on different wards that are set aside for patients from the emergency department (ED) when all of the beds on specialty wards are being used. A qualitative evaluation of the VAAU has revealed that it has reduced emergency nurses’ workload and allowed them more time to see and treat patients. This suggests that the introduction of VAAUs may address similar problems of ED throughput in the UK.
The Haaglanden Medical Centre, the Hague, Netherlands, has opened a ‘virtual’ acute admission unit (VAAU) to increase throughput of acute patients. The VAAU consists of 15 inpatient beds located on different wards that are set aside for patients from the emergency department (ED) when all of the beds on specialty wards are being used. A qualitative evaluation of the VAAU has revealed that it has reduced emergency nurses’ workload and allowed them more time to see and treat patients. This suggests that the introduction of VAAUs may address similar problems of ED throughput in the UK.
| Original language | Undefined |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 12-17 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Emergency Nurse |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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