• NIA must only be initiated at triage on the child’s arrival to ED | |
• Analgesia (NIA or otherwise) could not be initiated at triage | |
• Analgesia could not be initiated at triage if there is a queue | |
• Analgesia could not be initiated if the ambulance service had given opioids prior to arrival | |
• Only nurses who had attended a specific workshop could nurse initiate opioids | |
• Only senior nurses could be approved to nurse initiate opioids | |
• Policy required 3 or 4 registered nurses to initiate, check and administer analgesia | |
• Enrolled nurses are not permitted to act as checkers for opioid medications | |
• Approval to nurse initiate opioids was an individual practice choice | |
• Analgesia could not be given or kept at triage | |
• Nurses could not initiate analgesia if unable to weigh children: estimating weight is not permitted for analgesia but is permitted for other purposes | |
• ED oral liquid opioid medication supply was limited to 20 ml bottles because of potential errors (measuring/administering) | |
• Casual pool RNs (who worked regularly in the ED) were not approved to nurse initiate analgesia | |
• NIA could not be initiated if the child had been allocated to a nurse practitioner or doctor |