ED Nursing Archives – February 1, 2006
February 1, 2006
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ED nurses: What you document can make or break a malpractice lawsuit
Several days after a nurse gave an intramuscular (IM) injection to a patient with a bee sting, the patient returned complaining of hip pain and was diagnosed with piriformis syndrome. She sued the ED and claimed that the nurse negligently gave the IM injection in her right hip. -
Pediatric Corner: For sexual abuse, take steps to protect children
Its heartbreaking when a child comes to the ED as a result of sexual abuse but how would you feel if something you did helped the perpetrator to go unpunished? -
Do you mistreat patients who arrive at ED in pain?
When patients with an acute exacerbation of chronic pain from pancreatitis, migraines, cancer, fibromalgia, or other conditions go to an ED for help, pain management often is delayed or inadequate, says Elena Clifford, RN, an ED nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. -
Surveyors look closely at patient flow, patient safety
During an unannounced survey at Baptist Hospital of Miami, surveyors from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) asked to come in the front door of the ED and follow the triage process, to be certain that patients were treated without regard for their ability to pay. -
EDs recoup over $480,000 improving supply charging
At Deaconness Hospital in Evansville, IN, the ED was losing about $60,000 per month on lost charges for supplies. Does this sound familiar? -
ED creates shorter scale for stroke assessment
Are you aware of the benefits of using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) to assess stroke patients, but concerned about the time required? At University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, an abbreviated version of the NIHSS was developed, called The Emergency Triage Stroke Scale (ETSS), which takes only about two minutes to perform. -
Site offers patient safety resources solely for the ED
Overcrowded waiting rooms, patients leaving without being seen, inpatients being held for hours. The Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 2003 as a direct response to this current crisis in emergency medicine, says Dianne Vass, the groups executive vice president and chief operating officer.