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Always use the A, B, C, D, E, F principles when caring for patients with sickle cell pain, urges Allan Platt, PA-C, program coordinator for the Atlanta-based Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Grady Health System.
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ED patients often deal with frightening symptoms, noisy waiting rooms, and long delays. However, patients with sickle cell disease have a unique problem: Although they are in excruciating pain, they often are viewed as drug seekers.
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When a patient is assessed at triage and no beds are available, what happens next in your ED? Instead of sending patients to the waiting room, why not start care immediately? At St. Marys Hospital in Tucson, AZ, triage nurses use protocols to immediately initiate care for female abdominal pain, minor orthopedic injuries, and upper respiratory illnesses.
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Do stroke patients in your ED always receive a computed tomography scan within 25 minutes, and do you have results within 45 minutes? If not, youre not following recommended time frames for stroke care a scenario commonly occurring in community EDs, according to a just-published study.
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Does your ED allow family members to be present during emergency procedures? Chances are you have no written policy for this practice, even if its a common occurrence. A just-published study found that only 5% of ED and critical care nurses surveyed had written policies permitting family members to be present during cardiopulmonary resuscitation or invasive procedures.
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Insulin resistance increases with increasing body weight and is most prevalent in Mexican-Americans.