Enhancing care of older adults in the emergency department.

The findings from a recent comprehensive systematic review, in combination with a case study, are used to illustrate the importance of translational research to inform advanced practice nursing. The review article discussed in this column is a comprehensive systematic review of age-friendly nursing interventions in the management of older persons in the emergency department (ED). Two themes were synthesized from the research and texts: (1) the ED can be a foreign and challenging environment for older patients, and (2) older ED patients need specialized care to meet their complex physical and psychosocial needs. At the same time, these authors acknowledged that much more high-quality research is needed in this field. Comments by a certified geriatric nurse practitioner elaborate on these findings and provide practical suggestions for the ED advanced practice registered nurse.