Articles Tagged With:
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Documenting Understaffing Could Sound Like Blame-Shifting to a Jury
Jurors are going to expect everyone in the ED is working together for the patient’s benefit. If the emergency physician has valid safety concerns, the medical record is not the place to voice those. Patient safety committees or the peer review process are better options, and generally are not discoverable during malpractice litigation.
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The Legal Standard of Care if ED Is Understaffed
Frustrated emergency physicians want to be sure the lack of nursing staff is duly noted in the mistaken belief such a note will change the legal standard of care to which they are held. However, that documentation is ammunition for plaintiff lawyers to use against the provider, and leaves the standard of care unchanged.
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EMTALA Concerns if Patient Harm Is Linked to Staffing Shortage
It is important for administrators to understand an individual emergency physician or facility can be held liable under EMTALA, even if no one is hurt.
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Beware Venting About Staffing Problems
Emergency providers should follow proper channels for making such complaints. There may be a patient safety organization to which staff are directed to submit complaints, or the hospital could view the situation as a human resources issue.
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Inexperienced Nurses Placed in Unsafe Roles Due to Staffing Shortages
Because of staff shortages, inexperienced nurses are placed in roles that may be unsafe for patients — and for the nurses themselves.
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ED Violence Pushes Out Top Employees
While multiple factors can figure into an emergency provider’s decision to leave his or her profession, receiving threats or winding up as assault victims while on the job easily can be the final straw. Those who work in the ED say the violence in this setting is only growing worse.
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Staffing Shortages No. 1 Challenge in Healthcare
Short-staffed EDs mean patients have to wait longer for laboratory and diagnostic testing results, which could lead to delays in administering life-saving treatment.
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Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: More than Hypertension and Proteinuria
This article explains the current diagnostic criteria for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and how they are interrelated. It also describes evidence-based interventions for emergency providers, who must know how to diagnose and treat these conditions, and when it is safe for discharge, as well as to arrange outpatient follow-up.
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Long-Term Neurological Outcomes of Patients Treated with CAR-T Therapy
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is approved for the treatment of lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma, but its use is associated with early neurotoxicity in almost half of patients. Despite the incidence of neurotoxicity, long-term follow-up of patients after CAR-T infusion suggests that patients’ neurological examination, neuro-imaging studies, and cognition remain unaffected by this treatment.
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Treatment of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, a rare opportunistic viral infection that occurs in patients who have chronic immunosuppression, has defied all attempts at treatment. This observational study, which pooled patient data from multiple centers around the world, showed that there is some benefit using checkpoint inhibitors to help reconstitute the immune system of these patients. However, survival, at best, is 50% of those treated.