Harrop S N, Morgan W J
Arch Emerg Med. 1985 Sep;2(3):141-7. doi: 10.1136/emj.2.3.141.
Review of a consecutive series of the elderly patients who presented unheralded to the Accident and Emergency Department of the Royal Gwent Hospital showed that a relative minority (11%) were difficult to manage because they had no obvious acute medical condition or injury which qualified them for admission by the firms to whom they were first referred. The difficulty was compounded by the shortage of geriatric beds. Judicious use of short-stay ward beds in the accident and emergency department relieved pressure on beds elsewhere and allowed a short space of time in which preparation could be made for the patient's further care in the community. Elderly patients were removed quickly from the stretcher area of the accident and emergency department to the quieter surroundings of the short-stay ward, where their immediate nursing requirements could be readily met. It was not then necessary for them to be on a trolley for hours while junior doctors haggled on the telephone or nurses were too busy to administer food, drink and bedpans.
对连续一批未经预约就到皇家格温特医院急诊科就诊的老年患者进行的回顾显示，相对少数（11%）的患者难以处理，因为他们没有明显的急性疾病或损伤，不符合最初转诊科室的收治标准。老年病床短缺使问题更加严重。明智地使用急诊科的短期留观病床缓解了其他地方的床位压力，并为患者在社区的进一步护理留出了短暂的准备时间。老年患者很快从急诊科的担架区转移到短期留观病房更安静的环境中，在那里他们的即时护理需求能够得到轻松满足。这样一来，他们就无需长时间躺在推车上，等待低年资医生打电话协商，或者因护士太忙而得不到食物、饮料和便盆。
