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A true test of the success of a process improvement initiative is whether the results can be sustained, and the ED at Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor, NY, has just celebrated the fifth anniversary of its "no wait" process. Most patients skip the waiting room entirely and go right to registration, and then to triage.
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Something had to give. After several years of stagnation or even decline in compensation for ED managers, salaries have begun to improve, according to the 2010 ED Management Salary Survey.
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The debate has been simmering for a while, but it came to a boil recently when the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) threw down the gauntlet with its recent position paper,
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When the situation warrants it, The Joint Commission will re-visit a topic that it previously has covered in a Sentinel Event Alert to look at it from a different point of view.
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A study conducted in the ED at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Grosse Pointe, MI, has found that ED staff placed unnecessary urinary catheters (UCs) in nearly half of women 80 or older. The study was published in the November 2010 issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.
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If there are any doubts that improving patient flow also enhances patient safety, the recent experience of the ED at Enumclaw (WA) Regional Hospital should dispel them.
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Risk management is the process of identifying factors that may be a source of exposure to lawsuits and adverse outcomes.
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Did a "boarded" ED patient have a bad outcome that can be in any way associated with a delay in diagnosis or treatment, or a failure to properly observe?
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If a bad outcome occurs with a boarded patient, what standard of care will the ED be held to?
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If highly religious nurses or physicians feel that it is appropriate to pray with patients and to share their faith, some patients will appreciate this while others may not. However, it's unlikely this practice will lead to a lawsuit.
