Articles Tagged With:
-
Alleviate Risks if Patients Leave Without Being Seen
There is a tendency to assume that if someone left the ED, he or she probably was not that sick. That is a dangerous assumption. For all patients who leave without being seen, the nurse manager should follow up with a call within 24 hours.
-
Some Psychiatric Patients Can Bypass ED Altogether
Researchers considered protocols that bypass the ED by allowing EMS to directly transport patients to a specialized regional center for evaluation of psychiatric emergencies. The protocols are somewhat controversial.
-
Discharge of Psychiatric Patients Is Legal Landmine for EDs
If a patient with psychiatric symptoms experiences a poor outcome shortly after discharge from an ED, allegations of inadequate medical screening are possible. Good documentation is the best protection against these allegations.
-
Better Patient Experience Mitigates Malpractice Risk
Any ED would benefit from teaching emergency physicians to be more aware of how patients perceive them. Engaging in role-playing exercises are helpful. Record the exercises so they can be critiqued.
-
Incomplete Medication Lists Can Lead to Allegations of Negligence
Just 23% of older adults in the ED gave a medication list that mirrored pharmacy records, according to the results of an analysis. More than half the patients omitted antibiotics they were taking at the time of the visit. Not knowing about a medicine can lead to dangerous therapy or misdiagnosis.
-
ED Nurses Also Face Liability for Misdiagnosis
The idea that it is not within the nurses’ scope of practice to contribute to diagnosis is both dangerous and wrong.
-
Patients’ Easy Access to Records Means Complaints — and Chance to Avoid Litigation
Patients will no longer have to go through the discovery process during litigation to find out everything ED providers charted. Still, with patients reviewing all the clinical documentation, plenty of misunderstandings can happen.
-
Influenza-Like Illness in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The sudden appearance of COVID-19 has created an additional challenge to the evaluation of children with "flu-like" symptoms. This article compares and contrasts influenza and coronavirus and provides a critical update on a timely topic.
-
Emerging Coronavirus Variants Are Highly Transmissible
More transmissible variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are emerging globally and had been detected in three U.S. states as this report was filed. The mutated strains do not appear more virulent, but the enhanced transmission narrows the margin of error for breaks in personal protective equipment and other exposures as healthcare workers begin to take their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
-
CDC Advisors Draw Fire for COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
A CDC advisory panel has designated frontline essential workers and those age 75 years and older as the next priority groups to receive COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. The decision came amid considerable criticism and controversy at an emergency meeting on Dec. 20, 2020, with the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voting to continue the rationing process while vaccine stocks are insufficient.