“There has been a 20% increase in the number of patients attending emergency departments over the last 5 years and the numbers continue to grow. Australian emergency departments now manage over 6 million attendances per year. Reform isn’t just desirable, it’s a necessity.” according to eminent Australian emergency physician Professor Gerald FitzGerald.

The countdown is on.
On 12th October 2012, experts from around the world will debate the future of emergency department care in Australia when they meet at the 10th International Conference for Emergency Nurses in Hobart Like many other countries, Australian EDs are struggling with increasing demand for emergency healthcare services, overcrowding and lack of access to hospital beds. Emergency department staff face daily challenges of providing high quality care for critically ill patients while handicapped by lack of hospital beds and emergency department overcrowding.

Key questions include:

• is the traditional way emergency departments function obsolete in 2012?
• what new roles can emergency nurses play in emergency care delivery?
• how to measure quality and safety of emergency care?

Some of the other panel experts include:

• Dr Rosemary Bryant, President of the International Council of Nurses and Australian Commonwealth Nursing and Midwifery Officer
• Peggy Lee, President of the Emergency Nurses Association
• Dianne Crellin, Executive Director, College of Emergency Nursing Australasia and Emergency Nurse Practitioner

Dianne Crellin, Executive Director of the College of Emergency Nursing Australasian says “it is important that emergency nurses understand the social, political and clinical influences on emergency care. As the largest workforce in emergency departments, emergency nurses need to make informed decisions about how to best care for their patients and have an active role in emergency care reforms.”

ABC Journalist Jane Hutcheon will drive debate as panel members challenge existing thinking and propose radial solutions to managing the growing demand for emergency healthcare into the next decade.

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For more information, contact:

• ICEN Scientific Co-convenor Associate Professor Julie Considine at[email protected] / 0409354133
• ICEN Scientific Co-convenor Associate Professor Ramon Shaban at[email protected] / 0417600544
• ICEN Conference Convenor Tony Bradley at [email protected] / 0439 241 217

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