Emergency Department Management & Law
RSSArticles
-
LWBS Patients Pose Risks for EDs Under EMTALA
Solid documentation is the best weapon against accusations a clinician violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act and a patient who left the ED without being seen who files a malpractice lawsuit.
-
Malpractice Outcome Hinges on ‘Reasonableness’ of Wait Time
To prevail in malpractice litigation involving a leave without being seen patient, the patient must prove the ED’s failure to treat him or her within the time frame of the visit violated the standard of care. Also, the attorney must prove his or her client suffered harm as a result of that violation.
-
Unprecedented Strain on EDs Predates COVID-19 Pandemic
The American College of Emergency Physicians and other groups sent a letter to the White House in which they declared the ED boarding problem a “public health emergency.” The groups asked the Biden administration “to convene a summit of stakeholders from across the healthcare system to identify immediate and long-term solutions to this urgent problem.”
-
Medical Incapacity Holds Require Ethical Oversight
Clinicians feel conflicted about their ethical obligations. On one hand, they know it is unsafe for a confused person to be allowed to walk out of the hospital. On the other hand, they are understandably worried about their legal risks.
-
Ethical Use of Restraint Hinges on Decision-Making Capacity
The situation becomes ethically complex if the patient’s capacity is unclear, ambiguous, or fluctuating. It is much harder to know if, when, and how to avoid inflicting harm while balancing the patient’s legal and ethical right to make their own decisions.
-
Medical Orgs Ask White House to Intervene on Boarding Problem
More than 30 groups say making admitted patients wait for a room or transfer has become a national crisis.
-
Operational Countermeasures Help EDs Navigate Staffing Challenges
A possible solution involves moving care to the front end of the visit. Depending on the size of the department and acuity level, this might involve putting a physician or an advanced practice clinician out front, supported by a nurse, a tech, a phlebotomist, and a transporter. The goal of this approach is to ensure patients receive everything they would need if they were able to be in a room.
-
Avoid Disaster by Properly Preparing New Nurses
Ideally, new graduates should not practice in an ED without first undergoing an intense preceptorship overseen by experienced nurses, followed by undergoing proper precept with a seasoned professional. Even if the hospital is not held specifically at fault for a failure to prepare new graduates, the lack of training can be the cause of a negligent act that leads to a lawsuit.
-
Travel Programs, Flexible Work Options Shore Up Retention, Recruitment
Two nurse leaders explain how their healthcare systems incentivized nurses to take some extra shifts without placing undue burdens or giving the appearance outsiders are invading to take someone's job.
-
Not Just an ED Problem: How to Solve the Boarding Problem Caused by Staff Shortages
It takes thought, planning, and some amount of money.