Agricultural traumas are most common in rural areas, but patients who experience these injuries seek care in urban and suburban emergency departments. Providers should be equipped with the knowledge and tools to treat these injuries, even if their health care facilities are located outside of a rural setting.
Unity Point Allen Hospital ED Nurse Kimberly Mueller, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN, CNE, will present “E-I-E-I-Oww: Farm-Related Injuries” on Sept. 23 from 3:30-4:15 p.m. Pacific time at Emergency Nursing 2023.
The session will provide information on farm-related injuries that apply to those practicing in prehospital and in-hospital settings. Staff from critical access hospitals to level one trauma centers will find this information applicable as they learn about common agricultural injuries and evidence-based therapies to treat them.
“The most important thing I want people to gain from this session is an understanding of the mechanisms behind these injuries and how they apply to the care they need to provide for their patients,” Mueller explained.
Mueller grew up on a farm and witnessed disparities in care for agricultural injuries while working in rural and nonrural hospitals. She will use a case study format to describe several common farm injuries nurses might encounter and the care considerations that correlate with these traumas. The session will also highlight the importance of scene safety for first responders, along with awareness of concurrent injuries.
“Understanding the mechanisms behind these injuries is important. It helps nurses identify other underlying injuries that can result beyond the obvious fractures or easily identifiable conditions and intervene so the patient does not develop complications later on,” Mueller said.
Knowledge of agricultural traumas is also vital for care teams to educate patients on preventive measures they can take. As Mueller explained, a patient might get lucky and walk away from an incident like a tractor rollover with relatively minor injuries. However, nurses must be able to illustrate the hazardous symptoms often associated with such an incident to avoid repeat visits.
“Prevention pays dividends through better patient outcomes and is much easier than performing the hard labor and intensive work of major trauma,” she said.