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In 2003, the ED at Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis finished the year $327 over budget for supplies. As of August 2004, it was $725 under budget. What made the difference? Handing over the role of supply ordering to unit secretaries.
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Many ED nurses are wary of caring for sick or injured children, but these patients have unique needs that every nurse must be prepared for, says Nancy Blake, RN, MN, CCRN, CNAA, director of critical care services at Childrens Medical Center in Los Angeles. Adverse outcomes may occur if pediatric education is allowed to fall by the wayside, she warns.
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Whats the most common mistake resulting in potential violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) made by emergency nurses? Most likely, it is confusing triage for a medical screening examination (MSE).
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Verbal orders can put patients in danger for serious adverse outcomes resulting from medication errors, and the ED is at especially high risk for this, says Lisa DiMarco, RN, BSN, MBA, administrative director for emergency services at Edward Hospital in Naperville, IL. Unlike other departments, verbal orders are common in the ED out of both habit and necessity.
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Be honest: Are you truly comfortable caring for trauma patients? Many ED nurses rarely see these cases, notes Pat Manion, RN, MS, CCRN, CEN, trauma coordinator at Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc, MI.
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Picture a packed waiting room in the height of the flu season. Could a 61-year-old woman in heart failure be mistaken for another pneumonia case? Thats what a patients family said happened in one ED when a woman with labored breathing was left to wait for several hours as her condition worsened.
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Take a look at the last 10 patient charts in your outbox. If oral contraceptives (OCs) were prescribed, which ones were selected? When it comes to prescriptions for younger women, about 24% of respondents to the 2004 Contraceptive Technology Update Contraception Survey say their No. 1 pill of choice is Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo (Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Raritan, NJ).
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While the contraceptive transdermal patch (Ortho Evra, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Raritan, NJ) and the contraceptive vaginal ring (NuvaRing, Organon, West Orange, NJ) are gaining increased use among women, many providers report that oral contraceptives (OCs) remain a popular form of birth control.
