The emergency nursing assessment process—A structured framework for a systematic approach

Received 5 June 2009; received in revised form 2 July 2009; accepted 8 July 2009.

Summary

This paper discusses the uniqueness of the emergency nursing process and practice environment from other nursing and caring situations. The complexity, uncertainty and sometimes urgency surrounding emergency nursing practice requires a structured approach based on initial assessment and decision-making. A five step emergency nursing assessment framework (ENAF) was developed primarily for use in educational contexts, for example, a Master of Emergency Nursing at The University of Sydney and practice contexts, for example, the emergency department in acute care hospitals.

The rationale behind the development of ENAF is presented in this paper with a diagrammatic representation and discussion of each of the five steps. The importance of reassessment of the patient alongside effective communication in clinical contexts is discussed in the context of the framework implementation.

Keywords: Emergency nursing, Patient assessment, Nursing assessment, Communication, Education, Emergency department, Framework

a St George Hospital Trauma Service, Sydney, Australia

b Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of Sydney, Australia

c Emergency Department, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia

d Emergency Department Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Corresponding author at: Trauma Service, St George Hospital, Gray St., Kogarah, NSW 2217, Australia. Tel.: +61 2 91132686; fax: +61 2 91133974.

PII: S1574-6267(09)00122-0

doi:10.1016/j.aenj.2009.07.003

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