Emergency Nursing: A Look at What's New and What's Hard

Abstract

The evolution of emergency care gained momentum in the 1800s, with hospitals becoming increasingly popular and emergency services expanding. Initially, emergency rooms were known as "First Aid Rooms," where nurses provided basic care, including wound dressing, eye treatments, and burn care, as well as attending to minor illnesses like colds and sore throats. The early system operated on a first-come, first-served basis, but it soon became apparent that some patients required more urgent attention than others. This led to the introduction of a revolutionary concept: triage. Although triage had been used in wartime for centuries, its application in emergency departments was a relatively new development. A pivotal moment came in 1963, when Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, USA, became the first to implement triage in a nondisaster setting. Since then, the concept of triage has continued to evolve and become more refined; transforming the way emergency care is delivered and prioritized.