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When ED patients watched an educational video or read a brochure about pain assessment, the patient's self-report of pain often was lower compared to previous self-reports, says this study from St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, OH.
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Many emergency nurses routinely use the color-coded Broselow Pediatric Emergency tape to obtain medication dosages for pediatric patients who can't be weighed.
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When a Spanish-speaking man approached ED nurses at Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare in Memphis, TN, pointing to his chest, nurses immediately called for translation services, but the interpreter was tied up with another patient elsewhere in the hospital.
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Long waits are the most common cause of patient complaints in many EDs, so why not give patients a special "thank you" when wait times are long?
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The minute you learn that accreditation surveyors are on site, you probably have a "wish list" of tasks that should be done immediately. At Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR, ED nurses created checklists for technicians, nurses, physicians, and health unit coordinators to use.
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A male physician has a well-known habit of using vulgar language and continually berating the nursing staff who all happen to be female. This behavior exposes your ED not only to high vacancy rates for nursing staff, but also significant liability risks, says Brian A. Lapps Jr., a Nashville, TN-based attorney specializing in employment law.
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Failing to document the medications a patient currently is taking. Nurses mixing IV piggybacks. Storing drugs in concentrated form.
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When a physician asks for additional suture material for wound repair and the nurse realizes there is none left, the doctor explodes in anger.
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Could mistakes made in your ED cause an injured elderly patient to go into fluid overload or become hypothermic? Common errors in nursing practice can be life-threatening for these patients, says Karen Hayes, PhD, ARNP, assistant professor at the School of Nursing at Wichita (KS) State University.
