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If your patient asks for an antibiotic when it's not appropriate, you now have an attention-getting answer to give. A just-published study says adverse events caused by antibiotic use bring 142,000 patients to EDs each year.
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The most common type of antibiotics that cause reactions are penicillin, sulfonamides, and cephalosporins, says Rachel Sweeney, RN, BSN, an ED nurse at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "Other antibiotics can cause reactions, but not as commonly."
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Overcrowded EDs make it more important than ever that "triage nurses are on top of their game" with psychiatric patients, says Barbara Morgan, RN, director of emergency services at Cleveland Clinic.
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You have to build a relationship with the psychiatric patient, even in triage, says Barbara Morgan, RN, director of emergency services at Cleveland Clinic. Here are Morgan's tips to improve care of these patients:
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A pediatric trauma patient might come to your ED directly from the scene without any parents or family present.
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After a 4-year old girl came to the ED at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with an injury from falling off a diving board into a swimming pool, she was in acute respiratory distress, but she had no identified injuries. She had normal vital signs and a Glasgow Coma Score of 15.
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At Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, ED nurses implemented a new electrocardiogram (EKG) process for chest pain patients in April 2008.
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Acute asthma patients often are given unnecessary antibiotics in the ED, according to new research. Researchers used data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Emergency Department Safety Study and found that about 20% of acute asthma visits resulted in an antibiotic prescription.
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You don't have an electronic medical record (EMR) system implemented yet, and now there's talk of patients bringing you their personal electronic health records. Should you scramble to implement an EMR system, or continue to wait it out?
