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In light of a recent study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, some experts recommend that EDs use "read-backs" by asking the patient to repeat back what they have been told to verify whether patients have understood their instructions. However, support is not universal among ED managers.
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While a recent study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine showed that English-speaking adults often have difficulty understanding physicians' instructions, patients who don't understand English present an additional challenge for ED managers.
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The floods that ravaged Cedar Rapids, IA, in July caused several hospitals to evacuate their patients, including Mercy Medical Center, a 370-bed regional medical facility.
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The ED at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, had to be moved to another floor on July 13, as flood waters filled the hospital's lower levels. Despite having to uproot patients and equipment, the ED remained in constant contact with internal and external resources due to the presence of redundant communications options.
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As the effective response of the ED at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, to the recent floods demonstrates, the extra dollars required to invest in top-notch communications systems are well worth it, according to Rich Head, director of information services.
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Overcrowding, higher-acuity patients being held in hallways, and The Joint Commission's new National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) for 2009: It's the "perfect storm" to put hospital-acquired infections on the top of any ED nurse's priority list.
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Here are three steps to take to prevent hospital-acquired infections in your ED:
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Make sure staff wash their hands consistently. It sounds simple enough, and it's necessary to comply with The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal to prevent deadly health care-associated infections due to multiple drug-resistant organisms. But it's anything but easy for most EDs to do this.
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A patient involved in a motor vehicle accident was alert with stable vital signs when he arrived at an ED. Three hours later, a nurse from the step-down unit came to transfer the patient for continued monitoring. She saw that he no longer was opening his eyes and didn't respond to verbal commands.
