An 85-year-old man who reports vomiting and diarrhea after an injury, and also happens to be on beta blockers, might have a blood pressure of 120/70 and heart rate of 82 and "look absolutely normal, even though in reality he is hypotensive and tachycardic, and he is in shock," says Justin Milici, RN, MSN, CEN, CPEN, CFRN, CCRN, TNS, education specialist for the ED at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
A mother rushes into your ED and states that her child is having an asthma attack, but the child seems to be breathing normally.
After a child was diagnosed with acute appendicitis at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, MO, the ED physician ordered antibiotics and dosed the patient according to the weight that was in her chart.
Errors involving insulin were commonly reported to Pennsylvania's Patient Safety Authority in 2010, with 52% of 2695 events leading to a patient possibly having received the wrong dose or no dose, and 49 resulting in harm to the patient.