[Reducing False Alarms and Absent Treatments by Nurses During Resuscitation in the Emergency Department].

BACKGROUND & PROBLEMS: Medical management protocols prioritize the safety of patients during emergency resuscitation situations. According to a medical center in Taiwan statistics gathered in 2017, the unnecessary activation of resuscitation teams by new nurses because of their improper assessment of patient conditions was a significant cause of anxiety in patient relatives and source of complaints directed at the medical center. In June 2018, 18.7% of the emergency resuscitation calls in the emergency department (ED) were false alarms or absent treatment incidents. After investigation, lack of clearly stated resuscitation team member responsibilities and insufficient practical training for new nurses were primary factors associated with the high rate of false alarm/absent treatment incidents in the ED. PURPOSE: To decrease the rate of absent treatment by nurses during resuscitation from 18.7% to 0% in the ED. RESOLUTION: The assignments of emergency team members were revised, a new "Emergency app" was introduced, the assignment schedule of the emergency resuscitation team was distributed, SIM realistic education training was held, stronger team work was promoted, and a standard assignment review schedule was established and regularly monitored. RESULTS: After the introduction of the resolution measures, the false alarm / absent treatment incidents in the ED caused by ED nurses dropped from 18.7% to 0%. CONCLUSIONS: Resuscitation workflow is closely related to patient safety, and teamwork among colleagues critical to successful resuscitation. The project revised resuscitation teamwork assignments and organized resuscitation education training, including simulation courses, to enhance the understanding of team members. The strategy outlined in this paper may be used to raise awareness using posters and resuscitation record checklists to track and manage the team`s progress. This project was designed to enhance teamwork to decrease the rate of absent treatment and to provide safe and quality resuscitation care in order to improve resource management by the team to increase productivity.