Education may prevent injury

A&E nurses should be given sufficient resources to provide structured, injury prevention education to patients who present with minor injuries, a study has suggested.

Canadian researchers, who surveyed 63 A&E nurses, found that nearly 70% educated patients by reviewing the incident, and more than half discussed injury prevention.

However, a lack of time and money prevented them from implementing proper strategies, the authors said.

The authors added: 'Providing the "near miss" patient population with current, evidence-based education may prevent future injury, and providing the emergency nurse with education and accessible teaching resources would facilitate them in educating patients and their families in injury prevention.'

Journal of Emergency Nursing (2008) 34: 106–111