-
Although it's impossible to know what an Obama administration means for emergency nurses, there is reason to be encouraged, according to Denise King, RN, MSN, CEN, president of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA).
-
Standing orders used by emergency nurses not only speeds patient care; it also "adds a measure of safety in that they are standardized," says Gayle Walker-Cillo, RN, MSN/Ed, CEN, an ED clinician at Morristown (NJ) Memorial Hospital.
-
Anticoagulant safety is in the spotlight. A recent Sentinel Event Alert issued by The Joint Commission says that 59,316 medication errors involving blood thinners were reported between 2001 and 2006 to a database run by U.S. Pharmacopoeia, a nonprofit public health organization that supports research and development of patient safety initiatives. Of those, about 1,700 resulted in patient harm or death.
-
A patient reports stroke symptoms that began four hours ago outside the window for treatment with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA).
-
At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, ED nurses "made some huge changes" to their medication reconciliation process, reports Shelley Calder, RN, CEN, MSN, clinical nurse specialist for the ED.
-
Here are three scenarios in which noninvasive hemoglobin measurements could affect an ED patient's care:
-
Were you concerned that your ability to use standing orders at triage was in jeopardy? A February 2008 interpretive guideline from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) alarmed emergency nurses by requiring patient-specific practitioner approval for standing orders prior to treatment.
-
An ED physician prescribes nalbuphine or butorphanol for pain, thinking that the patient might have less severe drowsiness than from other pain medications, but doesn't check to see if the patient is chronically on a narcotic for pain control.
-
If you would like to use standing orders for pain management in your ED, a new study's findings give you powerful evidence to share.
-
At Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio, ED nurses are given training to prevent anticoagulant errors during orientation and during advanced certification training, says Wendi Deleon, RN, MS, assistant chief nursing officer and former director of the ED. Here are three ways to avoid problems: