ED Nursing Archives – August 1, 2007
August 1, 2007
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Woman dies waiting to be seen, ED nurse to be sued — Are you at risk?
It may sound unthinkable: Emergency nurses ignoring a woman's pleas for help as she bleeds to death on the floor of their waiting room. But that is what the family of a Los Angeles woman claim happened on May 9, 2007, in the ED at Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital. -
Frequent ED visits: Treat each as the patient's first
Imagine a patient coming to your ED dozens of times with no emergent condition identified always with the same complaint of chest or abdominal pain. Would you be just as vigilant with your assessment on his 49th visit? -
Change practice to comply with new 2008 safety goals
Only three new National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) were added this year by The Joint Commission, but all of them will have a big impact on emergency nurses. -
Pediatric Corner: Don't overlook cases of pediatric stroke in your ED
More than 3,200 children have "brain attacks" each year, but these often go unrecognized in the ED, since nurses don't suspect stroke in children, says Lori Jordan, MD, a pediatric neurologist who specializes in stroke at the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Children's Center. -
Know limitations of weight estimation tools
Two commonly used tools may underestimate a child's weight in the ED, according to a new study. Researchers obtained weight estimates with the Broselow-Luten tape and the devised weight estimation method (DWEM), and compared them with actual weights of 100 children. -
Dangerous heat injuries need special attention
At Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson, AZ, ED nurses often see the life-threatening consequences of heat stroke and hyperthermia, says Diana Platt Lopez, RN, BSN, CCRN, CEN, clinical educator for the emergency center. -
Focus is on education for restraint and seclusion
Emergency nurses must receive more rigorous training in the use of restraint and seclusion to control violent or self-destructive behavior to comply with new standards from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).