Although there is a high number of aging populations globally, these elderly populations face the challenges of emergency mental health issues, with often inadequate health care facilities. This article aimed to map and synthesize evidence on the management of mental health emergencies in the elderly population in the World Health Organization (WHO) regions. Using a scoping review design, the search for articles was guided by Population (elderly ≥ 60 years), Concept (mental health emergencies), and Context (WHO region states). The final 25 articles included publications from 2003 to 2021, spanning multiple WHO regions except the African.

Nurses in all practice areas are often thrust into emergency situations, requiring them to act swiftly to protect the health and safety of their clients. Once the emergency is over, they seamlessly return to their regular duties, driven by the belief that the work never stops, that nursing is a 24 hour job, and that selflessness is a nursing virtue. Occupational exposure to traumatic events can lead to adverse outcomes like posttraumatic stress disorder and secondary traumatic stress, which impact nurse well-being, patient safety, and workforce stability. This article presents a framework for managing the aftermath of such events.

The increasing frequency and severity of severe weather events poses significant challenges for hospital leaders, particularly those in rural areas where, compared with urban centers, inequities in resources and social determinants of health exist. Using a case study to illustrate our experiences with extreme weather events, we describe the steps taken to prepare our hospital services for these events and identify pearls and pitfalls to guide future preparations. A hospital-based, nursing leader with disaster management training is well positioned to deliver a holistic perspective to the planning, management, and recovery activities relating to disasters such as extreme weather events.

Patient-centered care (PCC) in primary health care emergency settings in low and middle-income countries centers on trusting patient-provider relationships and treating individuals with dignity, while involving them in all decisions. Grounded in the WHO definition of primary healthcare centers (PHCs), it promotes early, close-to-home emergency responses that reduce delays and travel barriers, and it requires a whole-of-society approach that engages communities, leaders, and networks. Adapting PCC to local cultures, including traditional practices and communication styles, strengthens care when resources are limited. Trust is built through honest discussions of constraints and family involvement.

Hospital environments are often characterized by high stress and demanding workloads, which can negatively impact staff well-being and the quality of patient care. Code Lavender (CL) is an emotional crisis intervention designed to support health care staff during or after stressful incidents. King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah (KFSHRC-J) has developed and implemented a robust CL program that has demonstrated professional, organizational, and personal benefits.

This article presents an overview of the development of a hospital discharge checklist for use with patients after blunt mechanism chest wall injuries. Discharge standards were developed through a process of patient interviews and expert consensus. The resulting standards were applied to the discharge checklist, which focuses on care needs including pain management, respiratory support, physical function, and patient education. The checklist aims to standardize discharge practice, reduce readmission rates, and improve patient safety. Further evaluation of the checklist is needed to understand the potential impact on patient outcomes.

Family nursing in Japanese emergency and acute care settings is deeply influenced by cultural norms that emphasize familial involvement in patient care. However, institutional constraints often impede meaningful engagement, particularly in high-acuity and crisis contexts. The scoping review revealed that family nursing in emergency departments remains fragmented, primarily qualitative, and highly dependent on individual nurses' discretion. Postpandemic data indicated a decline in relational competencies, especially among senior nurses. To foster ethical, culturally responsive family nursing in emergency care, system-level investment is needed in structured protocols, measurable outcomes, interprofessional collaboration, and education that integrates emotional and ethical competencies.

Discrimination, biases, and inequities in health care represent a growing crisis that is impacting all areas of health. This global problem can be seen in movements such as "Black lives Matter," but this is only one aspect, with discrimination still evident in the response and care offered to other cultural groups, including those related to gender identity, body size, age, and religious affiliation. This impacts health through limiting access, health engagement, and in equity of options and outcomes. Nurses can utilize the cultural safety framework to integrate effective techniques to recognize and mitigate such outcomes.

HIRAID is an evidence-informed emergency nursing framework developed to address critical safety and quality gaps in emergency care. It was trialled with 1300+ Australian nurses, the largest ever trial with emergency nurses. It was developed to standardize emergency nursing assessment and management, addressing longstanding variability in clinical practice and training. HIRAID has demonstrated reduced patient deterioration, enhanced documentation, better clinical handover, and improved patient experience across 130+ Australian emergency departments. It is now expanding into residential aged care and inpatient hospital settings. HIRAID is a nurse-led framework specifically designed to support the delivery of timely, high-quality care.

The moral obligations of emergency nursing as a profession supersede personal ethical positions. Challenges to moral integrity include environmental dysfunction, poor leadership, and policies and procedures that do not respect persons. Moral distress is related to secondary traumatic stress and burnout as both cause and effect, leading to high turnover and ethical desensitization.

As natural hazards increase and intensify, nurses can support patient, family, and community well-being by promoting disaster readiness. Brief, tailored, and timely patient education during minor and routine visits is one avenue to do so. A more prepared community can decrease illness and injury, lessen health care system burden, and increase resilience to disasters. This article provides accessible disaster readiness messages that nurses can model and utilize in health care interactions. The all-hazards approach and common hazards preparedness are addressed. Several case studies are presented. Small actions can make a difference when hazards disrupt communities.

Prelicensure nursing education inadequately prepares nurses for emergency management, creating significant gaps between theoretic knowledge and practical emergency competencies despite nurses' vital role in emergency response. This article examines current evidence on educational strategies for preparing nurses to effectively manage emergency situations while identifying best practices that optimize patient outcomes and nurse competency. Three core competencies are essential for emergency nursing: caring for acutely ill patients, effective communication, and care coordination. Implementation challenges include nursing shortages, resource constraints, and scheduling difficulties. Comprehensive reform in nursing emergency preparedness education, advocating multidisciplinary, simulation-based approaches is urgently needed to bridge the theory-practice divide.

Patient handover in emergency settings ensures continuity of care and improves patient safety, and it is therefore an important aspect of patient care delivery. It occurs multiple times and involves various role players. The handover of a patient involves the transfer of responsibility and accountability from one health care provider to another. It involves verbal communication between health care providers followed up with a written document. It involves the patient and should handover not take place, it can result in a break in the continuity of care, missed information regarding the patient and his/her care, and ultimately affects patient safety.