A retrospective chart review of adult mortality characteristics of patients presenting to a principal tertiary emergency department

Fry, M; Rhodes-Sutton, A

A retrospective chart review of adult mortality characteristics of patients presenting to a principal tertiary emergency department

Fry, M

Rhodes-Sutton, A

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Accident and Emergency Nursing, 2005, 13 (2), pp. 122 - 125
Issue Date:: 2005-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Fry, M https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1265-7096	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rhodes-Sutton, A	en_US
dc.date.available	2005-01-20	en_US
dc.date.issued	2005-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Accident and Emergency Nursing, 2005, 13 (2), pp. 122 - 125	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0965-2302	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/12841
dc.description.abstract	Aim: To determine the incidence of death after arrival to one metropolitan emergency department (ED) for each triage code, day of arrival, diagnosis and length of stay. Method: A 12-month retrospective chart review was conducted in a 550 bed principal referral hospital of all patients that presented to the ED and subsequently died. The ED annual attendance rate for the study year was 46,017 patients. The data collected included patient demographics, diagnosis, triage code, length of stay and ward disposition. The data are expressed as proportions, percentages, frequencies or the statistic chi-square (χ2). The proportion of ED deaths also examined included those patients admitted through the ED to a ward area. Results: The ED mortality rate for the study period was 1.3% (n = 595). One hundred and twenty-three patients (21%) died in the unit, while 472 (79%) were admitted through the ED to a ward area. The total annual hospital mortality rate was 1.7% (n = 790). The mean age of patients that died was 76 years. Of ED deaths, 329 (55%) were male and 266 (45%) female. Triage code 1 (60%) was allocated more commonly to patients that died in the ED compared with triage code 3 (46%) for ED-Ward deaths. Conclusions: Examination of ED mortality rate provides a deeper understanding of service utilisation and nursing staff work performance. Triage codes are beneficial in evaluating ED services, casemix, policies and quality assurance activities, but the application of this indicator to in-patient services appears limited. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Accident and Emergency Nursing	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.aaen.2005.01.002	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Nursing	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Length of Stay	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Patient Admission	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Population Surveillance	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Incidence	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Cause of Death	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Hospital Mortality	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Risk Factors	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Sensitivity and Specificity	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Chi-Square Distribution	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Retrospective Studies	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Time Factors	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adult	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Aged	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Emergency Service, Hospital	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Hospitals, Urban	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Triage	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	New South Wales	en_US
dc.title	A retrospective chart review of adult mortality characteristics of patients presenting to a principal tertiary emergency department	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	13	en_US
utslib.for	1110 Nursing	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Nursing
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	13	en_US

Abstract:

Aim: To determine the incidence of death after arrival to one metropolitan emergency department (ED) for each triage code, day of arrival, diagnosis and length of stay. Method: A 12-month retrospective chart review was conducted in a 550 bed principal referral hospital of all patients that presented to the ED and subsequently died. The ED annual attendance rate for the study year was 46,017 patients. The data collected included patient demographics, diagnosis, triage code, length of stay and ward disposition. The data are expressed as proportions, percentages, frequencies or the statistic chi-square (χ2). The proportion of ED deaths also examined included those patients admitted through the ED to a ward area. Results: The ED mortality rate for the study period was 1.3% (n = 595). One hundred and twenty-three patients (21%) died in the unit, while 472 (79%) were admitted through the ED to a ward area. The total annual hospital mortality rate was 1.7% (n = 790). The mean age of patients that died was 76 years. Of ED deaths, 329 (55%) were male and 266 (45%) female. Triage code 1 (60%) was allocated more commonly to patients that died in the ED compared with triage code 3 (46%) for ED-Ward deaths. Conclusions: Examination of ED mortality rate provides a deeper understanding of service utilisation and nursing staff work performance. Triage codes are beneficial in evaluating ED services, casemix, policies and quality assurance activities, but the application of this indicator to in-patient services appears limited. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/12841