Enhancing traumatic brain injury emergency care: the impact of grading and zoning nursing management

ABSTRACT

Objective

This research aimed to evaluate the impact of grading and zoning nursing management on traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients’ emergency treatment outcomes.

Methods

This randomized controlled trial included 200 TBI patients. They were treated with a conventional care (control group, n = 100) and a novel grading and zoning approach (study group, n = 100), respectively. This innovative model organized care into levels based on urgency and complexity, facilitating targeted medical response and resource allocation. Key metrics compared included demographic profiles, consultation efficiency (time metrics and emergency treatment rates), physiological parameters (HR, RR, MAP, SpO₂, RBS), and patient outcomes (hospital and ICU stays, complication rates, and emergency outcomes).

Results

The study group demonstrated significantly improved consultation efficiency, with reduced times for physician visits, examinations, emergency stays, and specialist referrals (all p < 0.001), alongside a higher emergency treatment rate (93% vs. 79%, p = 0.004), notably better physiological stability, improved HR, RR, MAP, SpO₂ and RBS (p < 0.001), shorter hospital and ICU stays, fewer complications, and superior emergency outcomes.

Conclusion

Grading and zoning nursing management substantially enhances TBI patients’ emergency care efficiency and clinical outcomes, suggesting a viable model for improving emergency treatment protocols.

KEYWORDS:

• Traumatic brain injury
• emergency care
• grading and zoning nursing management
• treatment efficacy
• emergency treatment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Author contribution

YG conceptualized and designed the study, drafted the initial manuscript. SM, HY, XL and LD collected the data and carried out the initial analyses. JZ critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Ethics approval

This clinical trial complied with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the ethics committee of Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University. The patients and their families signed the informed consent form.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.