Training emergency medicine nurses and physicians in youth violence prevention

Adolescents seen in an urban Emergency Department (ED) are more likely to die from violence than from any other illness or condition for which they seek care in the ED. Most injured patients presenting to our nation's EDs are treated and released, even after a firearm-related injury. These youth who are discharged from the ED will not interface with resources on the inpatient trauma unit. The current standard of care in the ED involves no referral for violence-related prevention services. Despite the fact that ED physicians and nurses frequently medically manage victims of violent assault, there are few courses on youth violence prevention (YVP) framed from the viewpoint of emergency healthcare providers, and ED staff remain relatively uneducated as a specialty on the identification, assessment, and referral resources available for early intervention and prevention. This article focuses on the development and in-depth description of a case-based, 1-hour continuing medical education presentation for ED physicians, residents, and nursing staff on YVP. This presentation is aimed to increase awareness of the role of ED personnel in YVP and to provide basic knowledge and skills needed to begin to incorporate YVP into routine clinical practice in an Emergency Department setting.