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As soon as the triage nurse suspects life-threatening pneumonia, the ED nurse stops his or her assessment, moves the patient to a treatment room, and notifies the ED physician, says Amanda Person, RN, an ED nurse at Methodist North Hospital in Memphis, TN.
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In 2004, The Joint Commission issued a standard requiring that ED patients be given an antibiotic within four hours of presentation if they are discharged with a diagnosis of pneumonia. As of October 2007, the time frame has since been increased to six hours. Also, The Joint Commission is allowing EDs to document "diagnostic uncertainty" to indicate that the diagnosis of pneumonia was not clear at the time of the patient's arrival in the ED.
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An elderly man says he's "not quite himself." Would you suspect pneumonia if this was your patient's only symptom? Even if your patient doesn't have a respiratory complaint, that does not mean they do not have pneumonia, says Cheryl Webber, RN, MS, CEN, nurse manager of the ED at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
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More than 1.2 million Americans were hospitalized for pneumonia in 2006, with 71% of those cases admitted through the ED, according to a new analysis using data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.
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There are two distinct differences seen on an electrocardiogram (EKG) that can tell you whether your patient has an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or pericarditis, says Dee Fontana, RN, MSN, ACNP-BC, ED nurse manager and nurse practitioner at University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.
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If a patient presents with sharp, stabbing chest pain, this doesn't necessarily mean a myocardial infarction. Your patient might have pericarditis, which can be life-threatening if myocarditis or cardiac tamponade develops.
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Police officers spraying pepper gas at protesters. Anarchists throwing urine at police officers. Worrying about the possibility of food served at parties stored at the wrong temperatures causing food poisoning. Filling prescriptions on the fly for out-of-town delegates.
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Although ED nurses at Saint Louis University Hospital didn't wind up caring for victims of a recent chemical exposure directly the only patient they received went directly to the intensive care unit nurses did the following to prepare for patients:
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Surgeons are disproportionately represented in attendance at a course on disruptive behaviors offered by the Center for Professional Health at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.
