-
Children are more susceptible to acute airway compromise due to the unique characteristics of a child's airway, according to Eileen Callahan, RN, BSN, an ED pediatric nurse educator at Tufts Medical Center and the Floating Hospital for Children in Boston, MA.
-
If the patient standing in front of you appears jittery, unable to sit still, and is continually scratching at sores on his or her face and body, it's likely he or she is using methamphetamine. "It's unfortunate to say, but we can usually tell by looking at someone that he or she is a meth user," says Sue Williams, RN, a nurse with SSM Behavioral Health Services at St. Joseph Health Center-Wentzville in Wentzville, MO.
-
Agreeing to settle a plaintiff's claim alleging ED malpractice may not sound like a good idea to the emergency physician (EP) named in the lawsuit, but, in fact, this course of action is often in everybody's best interest.
-
Generally speaking, when an emergency physician (EP) loses a trial, it may take him or her a long time to recover personally, psychologically, and emotionally. "But with a few rather glaring exceptions, the public is unaware of that in large measure," according to Joseph P. McMenamin, MD, JD, FCLM, a partner at Richmond, VA-based McGuireWoods and a former practicing EP.
-
The vast majority of emergency nurses, during their entire career, will never be involved in a lawsuit, even as a witness, much less as a named defendant, according to Edie Brous, RN, Esq., a New York City-based nurse attorney. "There are many misperceptions about liability exposure," she says. "Although the fear of liability has increased, actual lawsuits, in fact, have not."
-
Plaintiff attorneys continue efforts to turn ordinary "failure to diagnose" malpractice claims into claims for "failure to provide an appropriate medical screening exam" under federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act EMTALA.
-
Under what circumstances might a plaintiff's team be willing to drop the emergency physician (EP) involved in a lawsuit and allow the hospital to settle with the patient?
-
Whether a claim against an emergency physician (EP) is ultimately settled, defended, or dismissed, taking an upfront approach has resulted in quicker resolution of claims, reports Ryan Domengeaux, vice-president of enterprise risk management and internal counsel for Schumacher Group, an emergency medicine practice management company in Lafayette, LA.
-
Hospitals across the country are scrambling to improve patient satisfaction so that they won't be dinged by a provision in the Accountable Care Act that will put a portion of Medicare dollars at risk, based on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Services (HCAPS) surveys.
-
New systems and processes can make a big difference in trimming wait times and changing customer perceptions in the ED. However, administrators in the enviable position of being able to design a brand new ED facility have an opportunity to create patient-friendly environments that also cater to their own characteristics in terms of flow processes and volume.
