Emergency Medicine - Adult and Pediatric
RSSArticles
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Pediatric Hernias: Diagnosis and Management
Hernias are a common condition encountered by emergency providers and can be overlooked if the genitourinary system is not included in the evaluation of every child with vomiting or abdominal pain. Incarcerated hernias that are not identified in a timely fashion can have devastating consequences for a child. The authors provide an anatomical review, along with diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to pediatric hernias.
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Poll: Many Americans Delay Emergency Care Over Boarding Concerns
A survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians reveals nearly half of U.S. adults worry they will have to wait many hours before admission or transfer.
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Tachycardia in the Emergency Department: Part I
This issue is the first of a two-part discussion of tachycardia, the most common rhythm abnormality seen in the emergency department. Part I will discuss the epidemiology, etiology, and characteristics of the different tachycardic arrhythmias. Part II will discuss conditions affecting other organ systems that can produce tachycardia, then finish by reviewing the assessment and management of these patients. We hope these two issues will be useful to your clinical practice.
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Is ED Patient Rude or Insulting? Risk Mitigation Needed
Patients who behave in this manner could be at risk for a missed diagnosis caused by poor communication with the treatment team. They may be so difficult to tolerate that they receive less attention and nursing care than they would have otherwise. The best approach is to recognize the risks with these types of patients and mitigate them.
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Irritable Patient Behavior Affects Emergency Nursing Assessments
For encounters during which the patient exhibited irritable behavior, nurses reported more anger and unease. They also judged the patients as likely to exaggerate pain, as poorer historians, and less likely to cooperate and return to work and recover. In their documentation, nurses were more likely to use negative descriptions of patients and more likely to omit information, such as whether tests were ordered.
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Onsite Pharmacies Can Boost Medication Access to Patients, Surrounding Communities
There are some other possible workarounds, such as leveraging electronic prescribing from the ED so providers will know quickly whether medications are available in a specific outpatient pharmacy, administering first antibiotic doses in the ED, and providing a few days’ worth of medication to patients about to be discharged.
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EDs Can Make Discharges Against Medical Advice Safer
Recognizing a discharge as higher risk could encourage physicians and care providers to engage in risk assessment and risk reduction.
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Housing Instability Increases Likelihood of Discharge Against Medical Advice
It is important for emergency medicine providers to recognize that patients facing housing instability might be more inclined to self-discharge, even when dealing with severe medical conditions.
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Paramedicine Program Chips Away at High ED Use, Links Patients to Appropriate Care
Chicago-based Medical Home Network is partnering with community paramedics at the Chicago Fire Department on a program aimed at helping patients manage their chronic conditions and appropriately navigate the health system. The program is focused on steering patients away from calling 911 or presenting to EDs with nonurgent care needs.
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Fracture-Related Complications
The goal of this review is to familiarize emergency physicians with the initial assessment of fractures as well as the identification and management of immediate, early, and late-stage fracture complications.