ED Nursing Archives – November 1, 2011
November 1, 2011
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Giving meds to elder? Avoid a dangerous, unintended outcome
When an ED physician at Scripps Mercy San Diego (CA) decided to order lorazepam to help an elderly man sleep, the ED nurse caring for the patient got a very unexpected reaction. -
Is patient downplaying symptoms? Identify MI
While observing an elderly woman rubbing her arm as though it was a muscle ache, which she said was from gardening work, the possibility of a heart attack didn't cross the mind of the ED nurse caring for the patient. -
Stroke patient won't get tPA? Avoid problems
Your next stroke patient may be aware there is a drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), but he or she probably won't realize how few stroke patients are actually candidates for this treatment. -
Your ED patient may be taking duplicate meds
If your ED patient is taking multiple medications, he or she may have no idea what they are for. "They may tell us they are taking them because they were prescribed, without knowing what the purpose is or if the dosage changed recently," says Jocelyn Cajanap, RN, ED educator at Glendale (CA) Adventist Medical Center. -
Your ventilated patient may be at risk for VAP
If your patient has aspirated prior to being intubated, he or she is at increased risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), warns Nicole Schiever, RN, MSN, ED team leader at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, IL. -
Is intubation really needed? Consider risks, alternatives
Not every patient experiencing shortness of breath needs to have definitive airway intervention such as intubation, says Sybil Murray, RN, an ED nurse at St. Anthony's Medical Center in St. Louis, MO. -
Detect early problem signs with sedated ED patient
If your ED patient is sedated, he or she may have an adverse reaction to medications used in the procedure, an allergic reaction, or become hypoxic from inadequate respiratory effort, warns Brad Guffin, BSN, RN-BC, CPEN, director of emergency services at Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart, FL.