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Longer wait times than ever before and dramatic increases in numbers of psychiatric patients. These two trends are a dangerous combination, say experts interviewed by ED Nursing.
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Most ED nurses don't measure pulse oximetry levels at triage, but this assessment can have a dramatic impact on patient flow, says a new study. Researchers found that length of stay for bronchiolitis patients in a pediatric ED decreased by 50 minutes after pulse oximetry was implemented at triage.
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During a recent Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) survey at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX, surveyors walked into the ED's main entrance and saw every bed full, with nurses moving patients to nonmonitored beds to free up monitored beds for other patients.
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According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only about 40% of health care workers are vaccinated each year for influenza.
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The ED at Tahlequah (OK) City Hospital has been on diversion for just one hour in the past two years, says Brian Hail, RN, director of the department. According to Hail, his department has combined the good fortune of close proximity to another hospital with an array of targeted strategies to achieve such an impressive statistic.
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Numerous emergency medicine experts have noted that a number of ED overcrowding and flow problems really are hospitalwide problems; few, however, have recommended running a hospital "like" an ED to solve those problems.
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There has been a significant amount of confusion among ED managers and others regarding a new national patient safety goal on patient suicides, according to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
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For the first time in several years, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations has revised the look-alike/sound-alike drug list.
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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the National Quality Forum have announced the winners of the Joint M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards.
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The continuing shortage of nurses and a growing shortage of physicians has created a twofold challenge for ED managers, say the experts. The first challenge: How to attract and retain talented staff. The second: Dealing with the sad fact that while staff salaries are surging, ED director and manager compensation lags behind.
