African Journal of Emergency Medicine最新文献

{"title":"Determining the research priorities for emergency care within the Western Cape province of South Africa: A consensus study","authors":"Robert Holliman,&nbsp;Lee Wallis,&nbsp;Colleen Saunders","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionally affected by conditions requiring emergency care but there are limited contextually appropriate studies performed within these settings involving the patient population and healthcare systems they aim to benefit. Over the past five years, researchers in the Western Cape of South Africa have produced approximately 20 % of all emergency care publications from Africa, yet no agreed list of research priorities exists. Establishing research priorities, via recognised consensus methods, can ensure that efforts and resources in LMICs are more appropriately targeted to the need.</p></div><div><h3>Method</h3><p>Using a modified Delphi study, we invited a range of public and private representatives from different professional emergency care cadres within the Western Cape to identify current evidence gaps and consensus research priorities across the four areas of the WHO Emergency Care Systems framework: scene care, prehospital care, facility-based care, and the emergency care system itself. We then purposively selected eleven experts holding key academic and management positions to form a panel and perform a nominal group technique process to discuss these identified research priorities and establish a final list of priority research questions.</p></div><div><h3>Result</h3><p>Forty of the sixty-six (61 %) emergency care professionals invited contributed to the Delphi phase of the study, with representation from all professional cadres. After deduplication, 154 research topics were identified in the first round. In the second round, 94 (61 %) topics were considered research priorities by at least 80 % of participants. Following the nominal group technique discussion, 26 questions were established as consensus research priorities having been ranked as a top ten priority by over 50 % of panellists.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>We were able to successfully collate expert opinion and identify existing emergency care knowledge gaps within the Western Cape province of South Africa. Key topics identified for future work included questions on current health-seeking behaviour, dispatch, interfacility transfer, and staff burnout.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"14 1","pages":"Pages 1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000642/pdfft?md5=1004bc9a24639d67c72d3de6699a3459&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000642-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138480566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global Health research abstracts: August ‘23","authors":"Dr. Jonathan Kajjimu","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The African Journal of Emergency Medicine, in partnership with several other regional emergency medicine journals, publishes abstracts from each respective journal. Abstracts are not necessarily linked to open access papers however, all abstracts are accessible without subscription.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 345-347"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000575/pdfft?md5=aa5180d0123268f9de3ab8571969bde9&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000575-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138448429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global Health research abstracts: September ‘23","authors":"Dr. Jonathan Kajjimu","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The African Journal of Emergency Medicine, in partnership with several other regional emergency medicine journals, publishes abstracts from each respective journal. Abstracts are not necessarily linked to open access papers however, all abstracts are accessible without subscription.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 348-350"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000563/pdfft?md5=df2e3598bfe4c49ccd77c16b058d550f&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000563-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138448430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Palliative care needs and barriers in an urban Ugandan Emergency Department: A mixed-methods survey of emergency healthcare workers and patients","authors":"Eleanor Reid ,&nbsp;Michael Lukoma ,&nbsp;Dao Ho ,&nbsp;Peace Bagasha ,&nbsp;Mhoira Leng ,&nbsp;Liz Namukwaya","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Palliative Care offers patient-centered, symptom-focused relief for patients with incurable disease, and early integration of palliative care ensures quality of life and death while reducing medical impoverishment. The Emergency Department is an ideal yet understudied, under-utilized location to initiate palliative care.</p></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><p>To evaluate the palliative care needs of patients with incurable disease and perceived barriers amongst healthcare providers in the Emergency Department of Kiruddu National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>A mixed methods survey of Emergency Department healthcare workers and patients was conducted. A crosse sectional survey of ninety-nine patients was conducted using the integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale (IPOS). Eleven interviews were conducted with healthcare workers at Kiruddu Hospital, identified by purposive sampling. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data.. Grounded theory approach was used to construct the in depth interview questions, code and analyze qualitative results and collapse these results into final themes.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The most common diagnoses were HIV/HIV-TB (32 %), heart disease (18 %), and sickle cell disease (14 %). The prevalence of unmet palliative care needs was substantial: more that 70 % of patients reported untreated symptoms e.g., pain, fatigue, difficulty breathing. Seventy-seven percent of the population reported severe or overwhelming pain. The main barriers to provision of palliative care in the Emergency Department as identified by healthcare workers were: (1) lack of adequate training in palliative care; (2) Challenges due to patient volume and understaffing; (3) the misconception that palliative care is associated with pain management alone; (4) Financial constraints as the greatest challenge faced by patients with incurable disease.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>We report a high prevalence of unmet palliative care needs among patients in this urban Ugandan Emergency Department, and important barriers reported by emergency healthcare providers. Identification of these barriers offers opportunities to overcome them including harnessing novel mHealth interventions such as clinical support apps or telehealth palliative care consultants. Integration of palliative care in this setting would improve the care of vulnerable patients, provide healthcare workers with an additional care modality while likely adding value to the health system.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 339-344"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000605/pdfft?md5=2eae22d69ac33967c9bc217380f0f86b&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000605-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138436571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Content validation of needs assessment survey for remote education initiative in Tanzania","authors":"Oriane Longerstaey ,&nbsp;Humphrey Godwin ,&nbsp;Raya Mussa ,&nbsp;Alphonce Simbila ,&nbsp;Said Kilindimo ,&nbsp;Michael Gibbs ,&nbsp;Breanna Lorenzen ,&nbsp;Michael Runyon ,&nbsp;Adeline Dozois","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Historically, educational initiatives in global health have involved expert lectures by visitors. However, incomplete understanding of the target population and resources can limit the efficacy of lectures by international faculty. Little data exists on the magnitude of this problem. The goal of this study was to create and validate a needs assessment tool to guide lecture development as part of a larger study to implement virtual lectures for a residency program in Tanzania by members of an American faculty.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Two study authors familiar with the Tanzanian hospital and residency program derived surveys for local residents and faculty. An expert panel consisting of two faculty members and one resident from each institution evaluated the questions. Each item was rated from 1 to 4 for clarity and relevance respectively. A content validity index (CVI) was calculated for each item using the proportion of experts who rated it as valid. Items with a CVI &lt; 0.8 were revised and resubmitted. A CVI was then calculated for each instrument.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>On the initial resident survey, 20 of 26 items were clear and 25 of 26 items were relevant with a CVI &gt; 0.8. One item was deemed irrelevant and deleted. For the faculty survey, 10 of 12 items were clear and all items were relevant with CVI &gt; 0.8. Five questions from the resident survey and two from the faculty survey deemed relevant but unclear were rewritten and resubmitted to experts. They all achieved CVI&gt;0.8. Each survey obtained a CVI of 1.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Using this approach, we validated a needs assessment tool to guide the creation of didactics for audiences that practice in a different setting from the lecturer.  This validated tool is an important step in the creation of a process to develop appropriate content and could be replicated by other groups planning similar initiatives.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 328-330"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000599/pdfft?md5=85fb700e1b617d196ceae95ede018674&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000599-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138413139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quality of systematic reviews in African emergency medicine: a cross-sectional methodological study","authors":"J. van Niekerk,&nbsp;T. Fapohunda,&nbsp;A. Rohwer,&nbsp;M. McCaul","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.10.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Reliable systematic reviews are essential to inform clinical practice guidelines, policies and further research priorities in Africa. For systematic review findings to be trustworthy, they need to be conducted with methodological rigour and reported transparently. We assessed the methodological quality of systematic reviews published in African emergency medicine journals, comparing them to those published in international emergency medicine journals. Additionally, we describe the types of review literature published in the African journals.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>We performed a cross-sectional methodological study of systematic reviews published in selected African and international emergency medicine journals from 2012 to 2021. Studies were eligible if they were i) a systematic review on an emergency medicine topic, ii) published in one of the top five emergency medicine journals in the African region or internationally and iii) published between January 2012 and December 2021 in English or French. We searched PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases and hand-searched selected journals. Two authors screened titles, abstracts and full texts independently and in duplicate. Data extraction was performed by one reviewer, using a standardised form, after completing a calibration exercise. We described the characteristics of systematic reviews and assessed methodological quality using AMSTAR II.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>We identified 34 (37%) African and 511 (54%) international systematic reviews from 92 and 948 review articles respectively across 10 journals. We included all 34 African and a random sample of 100 international systematic reviews. Methodological quality was low or critically low for all the African systematic reviews (n=34, 100%) and all but three international systematic reviews (n=97, 97%). The median number of critical domain weaknesses was 4 (IQR 4;5) and 2 (IQR 2;4) for African and international systematic reviews respectively. The most common weaknesses across both African and international systematic reviews were i) not establishing <em>a priori</em> review protocols, ii) unclear selection of study designs iii) not providing a list of excluded studies and iv) unclear reporting on funding sources for included studies.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Emergency medicine systematic reviews published in African and international journals are lacking in methodological quality. Reporting an <em>a priori</em> protocol, developing a comprehensive search strategy, appropriate evidence synthesis and adequate assessment of risk of bias, heterogeneity and evidence certainty may improve the quality of systematic reviews.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 331-338"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X2300054X/pdfft?md5=78b3cde8de4cd6b03e6e331789d61e69&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X2300054X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138436570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The use of non-invasive ventilation by emergency doctors in Johannesburg Academic Hospitals, South Africa – assessing knowledge, attitudes and practices","authors":"Dr Holly Bird,&nbsp;Dr Craig Beringer,&nbsp;Dr Pano Parris","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is an alternative ventilatory method to endotracheal intubation and invasive ventilation in patients presenting in acute respiratory failure. Appropriate and timely application of NIV has shown benefits over invasive ventilation. In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of NIV for varying pathologies in response to limited resources.</p><p>Emergency department doctors’ knowledge of NIV, as well as their attitude towards its use can have significant effects on the success of NIV. The aim of this study was to assess emergency doctors’ use of NIV in the South African setting.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>This was a multi-centre prospective cross-sectional study that was conducted across three academic emergency departments in Johannesburg, South Africa. Doctors of various grades were included in the study and their responses were analysed according to their level of experience and their job description.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The mean knowledge score of the participants was shown to increase with an increase in job designation (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.001). The doctors’ attitude towards NIV was more positive in those with higher knowledge scores (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.001). Participants with previous critical care experience versus those without was associated with a higher average knowledge score (77% vs. 69 %, <em>p</em> = 0.009) as was formal NIV training versus those without (77% vs. 69 %, <em>p</em> = 0.01). The COVID-19 pandemic increased confidence in the use of NIV in 61 % of participants. The majority (69 %) of participants did not use a checklist when administering NIV. Only 53 % used a guideline when initiating a patient on NIV and just 26 % used a locally produced protocol.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Increased clinical experience, critical care exposure and formal NIV training corresponded with higher knowledge scores. Formal NIV training programs, the implementation of a checklist and the development of locally produced protocols are recommended to improve knowledge, attitudes and NIV practice that is in-keeping with international standards.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 322-327"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000587/pdfft?md5=512158b034657a1a122c7ba45493de27&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000587-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91993359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ketamine as adjunctive or monotherapy for post-intubation sedation in patients with trauma on mechanical ventilation: A rapid review","authors":"C Hendrikse ,&nbsp;V Ngah ,&nbsp;II Kallon ,&nbsp;T D Leong ,&nbsp;M McCaul","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.10.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.10.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The effectiveness of ketamine as adjunctive or monotherapy for post-intubation sedation in adults with trauma on mechanical ventilation is unclear.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>A rapid review of systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials, then randomized controlled trials or observational studies was conducted searching three electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library) and one clinical trial registry on June 1, 2022. We used a prespecified protocol following Cochrane rapid review methods.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>We identified eight systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials and observational studies. Among the included reviews, only the most relevant, up to date, highest quality-assessed reviews and reviews that reported on critical outcomes were considered. Adjunctive ketamine showed a morphine sparing effect (MD −13.19 µmg kg^–1 h^–1, 95 % CI −22.10 to −4.28, moderate certainty of evidence, 6 RCTs), but no to little effect on midazolam sparing effect (MD 0.75 µmg kg^–1 h^–1, 95 % CI −1.11 to 2.61, low certainty of evidence, 6 RCTs) or duration of mechanical ventilation in days (MD −0.17 days, 95 % CI −3.03 to 2.69, moderate certainty of evidence, 3 RCTs).</p><p>Adjunctive ketamine therapy may reduce mortality (OR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.54 to 1.43, <em>P</em> = 0.60, very low certainty of evidence, 5 RCTs, <em>n</em> = 3076 patients) resulting in 30 fewer deaths per 1000, ranging from 132 fewer to 87 more, but the evidence is very uncertain. Ketamine results in little to no difference in length of ICU stay (MD 0.04 days, 95 % CI −0.12 to 0.20, high certainty of evidence, 5 RCTs <em>n</em> = 390 patients) or length of hospital stay (MD −0.53 days, 95 % CI −1.36 to 0.30, high certainty of evidence, 5 RCTs, <em>n</em> = 277 patients).</p><p>Monotherapy may have a positive effect on respiratory and haemodynamic outcomes, however the evidence is very uncertain.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Adjunctive ketamine for post-intubation analgosedation results in a moderate meaningful net benefit but there is uncertainty for benefit and harms as monotherapy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 313-321"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000538/pdfft?md5=51d109993fca655fc6467b51f6994749&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000538-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"92096533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Strengthening emergency care provision in a non-emergency physician run emergency department – Experience from the Eastern Cape, South Africa","authors":"L Taljaard ,&nbsp;C Hendrikse","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.10.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.10.004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 311-312"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000526/pdfft?md5=acb7f5e75ef092cd21710402f1321fd7&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000526-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91686388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The knowledge level of nurses managing critically-ill and injured patients in Ashanti Region of Ghana","authors":"AK Karikari ,&nbsp;D Amedjake ,&nbsp;J Antwi ,&nbsp;P Agyei-Baffour ,&nbsp;C Mock ,&nbsp;AK Edusei ,&nbsp;P Donkor","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.10.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2023.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Shortages in the right cadres of human resources to manage health emergencies remain an acute problem especially in low- and middle-income countries. Efforts to address this challenge are dependent on the knowledge and competency of emergency nurses. We sought to determine the knowledge level of nurses in emergency management in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>We used a cross-sectional, quantitative approach to evaluate knowledge about emergency care among 408 nurses working in wards and emergency units in 11 randomly selected district hospitals (6 public and 5 faith-based). Participants were purposively selected and examined on knowledge level using a structured questionnaire. The inclusion criteria were different cadres of nurses who had spent at least 6 months in the selected hospitals.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Four hundred and eight nurses participated. Most were general nurses (73.1 %) or mid-wives (14.4 %), with few specialised in emergency nursing (3.9 %) or critical care nursing (1.6 %). Mean percentage correct on an objective 20 question test on emergency care was 59.8 %. Few (35.6 %) nurses felt that they had adequate knowledge to manage emergencies. Around half (52.5 %) had received training in managing critically ill and injured patients through continuing professional development and 46.6 % felt prepared to work at emergency units. But few (34.7 %) reported having adequate logistics to manage emergencies and fewer (32.2 %) had time off to access training opportunities. Predictors of reporting adequate knowledge to manage emergencies included: having received training in managing critically ill and injured patients (<em>p</em>&lt;.002), feeling prepared to work at emergency units (<em>p</em>&lt;.001), and having adequate logistics to manage emergencies (<em>p</em>&lt;.001).</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Most nurses did not feel that they had adequate knowledge to manage emergencies. This study has identified increased availability of continuing professional development on emergency care for nurses as a priority in Ghana.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 306-310"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X23000551/pdfft?md5=1b93cc0ccd03ec3d7506b7398e5098d8&pid=1-s2.0-S2211419X23000551-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91993104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}