Emergency Department Management & Law
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EMTALA Implications if ED Patient Needs Medically Necessary Abortion
It is a mistake for ED providers to be solely focused on what their state abortion law says, without also considering the bigger picture in terms of other legal risks and ethical obligations.
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Emergency Providers Scramble to Prepare for Treating More Pregnancy-Related Complications
Now that the Supreme Court has shifted abortion lawmaking decisions to the states, matters for frontline providers have become more complicated in multiple ways. In addition to tracking patchwork laws, providers must be prepared to manage pregnancy- or abortion-related complications that might have been better managed at clinics that provide appropriate services.
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Using Biomarkers to Predict Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes
Measuring proteins on day of injury could help improve current predictive models.
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Educators Hope Emergency Nurse Residency Program Can Improve Retention, Prevent Burnout
What is the best way to prepare a new nurse for the challenges and requirements of an ED? This is a question the Emergency Nurses Association has been grappling with in recent years, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic put unprecedented pressure on the profession. The answer might be a comprehensive emergency nurse residency program capable of providing graduates and nurses new to the emergency environment with the judgment, skills, and resilience to launch long and successful careers.
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An ED-Friendly Screening Tool to Identify Potentially Violent Patients
Considering violence is a continuing concern in the emergency setting, there is high interest in new mechanisms that can identify potentially violent patients at the front end of their care encounters. This way, safeguards or preventive measures can be activated to keep providers and other patients safe. However, any such tool needs to be brief and easily integrated into the workflow of a busy ED.
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Ethics Plays Important Role in Response to Abortion Ruling
As healthcare professionals process the clinical, legal, and even personal implications of the recent Supreme Court decision to allow states to restrict abortion access or ban it entirely, ethicists play an important role.
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ED Visit Is Teachable Moment on Stroke Care
Researchers provided an ED-based educational intervention to 100 Black patients at an urban facility, including video, brochure, and verbal counseling. After, participants were much more likely to demonstrate confidence in the ability to recognize stroke symptoms in themselves or others and were more likely to feel confident about calling 911 in the case of stroke warning signs.
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Updated Abdominal Pain Guidelines Close Knowledge Gap
Without clear guidelines, patients could undergo unnecessary testing (or not receive tests they need), which could lead to misdiagnoses — or worse.
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Admissibility of ED Recordings Depends on Multiple Factors
Even if the patient recorded the entire discharge instructions, relevant discussions might have happened throughout the visit. The defense can challenge the admissibility based on that argument, but the ruling could go either way.
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Emergency Providers Uneasy About Recording Visits
Clinicians might need more information, such as specifics on who would record the discharge instructions, whether it would be recorded on the patient’s personal smartphone, and what safeguards could be required to ensure patient privacy. Combined with possible involvement of the hospital’s legal department, this might make providers more comfortable with the idea.