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An 85-year-old man who reports vomiting and diarrhea after an injury, and also happens to be on beta blockers, might have a blood pressure of 120/70 and heart rate of 82 and "look absolutely normal, even though in reality he is hypotensive and tachycardic, and he is in shock," says Justin Milici, RN, MSN, CEN, CPEN, CFRN, CCRN, TNS, education specialist for the ED at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
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A mother rushes into your ED and states that her child is having an asthma attack, but the child seems to be breathing normally.
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After a child was diagnosed with acute appendicitis at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, MO, the ED physician ordered antibiotics and dosed the patient according to the weight that was in her chart.
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Errors involving insulin were commonly reported to Pennsylvania's Patient Safety Authority in 2010, with 52% of 2695 events leading to a patient possibly having received the wrong dose or no dose, and 49 resulting in harm to the patient.
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Risk managers continue to report that they experience harassment and retaliation for doing their jobs, with health care executives making them the scapegoat for lapses in policy and quality by the health care institution.
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Most incidents of intimidation of risk managers emanate from a lack of understanding of the role of the risk manager in the hospital or health system, poor communication, and an absence of clarity regarding chain of command, says Patrick Hurd, JD, senior counsel and leader of the Healthcare Industry Group with the law firm of LeClair Ryan in Norfolk, VA.
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A former radiology technician accused of improperly entering negative results on mammograms at Perry (GA) Hospital has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Legal observers say the hospital is facing a storm of lawsuits over the alleged fakery.
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A new Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert warns that non-psychiatric patients are committing suicide in emergency departments and medical/surgical inpatient units. The alert urges greater attention to the risk of suicide for these patients and recommends education for caregivers about warning signs that may indicate when patients in general hospital units are contemplating harming themselves.
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A man who had been out in his garden working complained to his wife of pain in his left arm. However, the pain did not subside after the man soaked his arm in warm water and applied an ice pack, and his wife drove him to the emergency department (ED) at a local hospital.
