Melbourne School of Health Sciences

Associate Professor Marie Gerdtz, Professor Nick Santamaria, Theresa Vassiliou and Rebbecca Waite form the Department of Nursing and in partnership with the Royal Melbourne Hospital Emergency Department have been awarded the Nurses Board of Victoria Legacy Limited (NBVLL) Major Research Grant for their research project: Improving patient discharge from the emergency department: The effect of an evidence-based protocol on safety and quality of care

While abnormal vital signs (respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and pain score) are key predictors of potentially serious clinical events in hospitalised patients, levels of documentation of vital signs by nurses are known to vary. In emergency departments (EDs), increasing demand for resources, overcrowding and new national access targets all limit the nursing time available for the documentation of patient’s clinical status at the point of discharge. Research indicates that rapid ED throughput increases the risk for clinical errors, adverse and sentinel events. ED re-attendance rates have been linked to sub-optimal discharge processes and are now considered an important measure of the quality of ED care worldwide.

With the aid of the funding provided by the Major Research Grant, Marie and her team will develop, implement and evaluate the effect and sustainability of a standard discharge protocol on the safety and quality of emergency department care.

The purpose of the NBVLL is to advance and foster the practice of nursing and midwifery in Victoria, through research and education, to improve patient outcomes. In particular, their Major Research Grant aims to facilitate research that relates to improving health outcomes across a number of areas, and/or changing the scope of practice and nursing and midwifery.

For more information please email Associate Professor Marie Gerdtz at Marie.Gerdtz@mh.org.au