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(Editor's note: This is a two-part series on prevention of hospital-acquired infections in the ED. This month's issue provides information on avoiding infections when invasive procedures are performed, reducing the risk of infection with peripheral IV insertion, using alternatives to invasive procedures, giving central line education to ED nurses, and decreasing the use of central lines and urinary catheters. Next month, we'll cover how to determine if your patient has arrived at the ED with an infection, tips for cleaning the equipment you use, and strategies to improve compliance with hand hygiene.)
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ED nurses gave 2 mg of intravenous (IV) hydromorphone to a 40-year-old man with severe throat pain. After two additional doses were given in an inpatient unit, the man suffered respiratory arrest. He was resuscitated, but sustained permanent central nervous system impairment and died.
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Congestive heart failure (CHF) patients often wait too long to seek medical treatment and arrive in the ED in an acutely exacerbated state, says Eileen Swailes, RN, nurse manager of the ED overflow unit at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, NY.
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You might be waiting for a physician to order the appropriate steroid for your asthma patient, or you might have difficulty prioritizing due to a heavy patient load.
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ED nurses at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City answer this question about every patient using an electronic medical record (EMR): "Does the patient have two or more systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria?"
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(In this second of a two-part series on innovative care and pricing plans being used for outpatient surgery, we tell you how a facility offers a guarantee involving complications and billing insurance. In last month's issue, we told you how Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA, has used a checklist of best practices to save money, plus implemented a price guarantee for members of its health plan.)
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Surgeons who are burned out or depressed are more likely to say they had recently committed a major error on the job, according to the largest study to date on physician burnout.
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Be prepared, that old Boy Scout motto, is being applied with great success to operating room patients whose anatomy might make it difficult for physicians to help them breathe during surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers report in a new study.
