ED Nursing Archives – March 1, 2004
March 1, 2004
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750,000 ED patients this year to feel impact of new pneumonia guidelines
An adult patient with fever and cough. This is something you probably see at least once a day and perhaps dozens of times a day in your ED during the flu season. But did you know about new recommendations that call for changes concerning when patients receive antibiotics, which diagnostic tests they are given, and whether they are discharged or admitted? -
Are you undertreating pain of cancer patients?
A cancer patient with a pericardial effusion was upset about something other than her condition when she arrived at the ED at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor: not being able to see her regular oncologist. -
Handle complications with invasive lines
Be honest: Are you entirely comfortable caring for a patient with an invasive line? If your answer is no, you could be putting a patients life in danger, says Reneé Semonin Holleran, RN, PhD, CEN, CCRN, CFRN, clinical manager of the ED at University of Utah Hospital and Clinics in Salt Lake City. -
Elderly may be at risk for drug errors in your ED
You wrongly assume an 85-year-old woman is the correct patient because she answers to the name on the chart in front of you. You mistakenly fail to dilute a concentrated medication. You forget to ask what other medications an elderly man is taking before administering heparin. -
Don’t miss subarachnoid hemorrhage in your ED
Do you know how to assess patients for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), the most deadly type of stroke? A new study has dramatic implications for ED care of these patients. -
Can you differentiate SAH, ischemic stroke?
Is it possible that you could miss the signs of an ischemic stroke or subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) when your waiting room is full of sick and injured patients? -
Journal Review
Sievers V, Murphy S, Miller JJ. Sexual assault evidence collection more accurate when completed by sexual assault nurse examiners: Colorados experience. J Emerg Nurs 2003; 29:511-514.