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When Robert B. Takla, MD, MBA, FACEP, chief of the Emergency Center at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, MI, was named in a lawsuit early in his career, he was certain he hadn't breached the standard of care, though the same may not have been true regarding one of his emergency physician (EP) colleagues.
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Overcrowding and emergency department (ED) boarding are the two top liability risks that Douglas Brunette, MD, assistant chief of emergency medicine for clinical affairs at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota, sees for EDs currently.
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When a medical malpractice lawsuit is filed, the emergency physician (EP) and the hospital are often represented by the same defense counsel, but there are times when this is not in the EP's best interest, according to Robert B. Takla, MD, MBA, FACEP, chief of the Emergency Center at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, MI.
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If an ED patient dies because she doesn't take antibiotics, as instructed by the emergency physician (EP), this doesn't mean that her family won't later sue for medical malpractice.
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Abdominal pain is an exceedingly common presentation in the emergency department. Every clinician fears missing the diagnosis of appendicitis. Children are particularly challenging since appendicitis is less common, and the history and physical may be subtle. The diagnostic use of CT is not without its risks and must be balanced against the potential risk of appendicitis in each individual patient. This article provides a comprehensive review of appendicitis in children.
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If your ED patient is sedated, he or she may have an adverse reaction to medications used in the procedure, an allergic reaction, or become hypoxic from inadequate respiratory effort, warns Brad Guffin, BSN, RN-BC, CPEN, director of emergency services at Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart, FL.
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While observing an elderly woman rubbing her arm as though it was a muscle ache, which she said was from gardening work, the possibility of a heart attack didn't cross the mind of the ED nurse caring for the patient.
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If your ED patient is taking multiple medications, he or she may have no idea what they are for. "They may tell us they are taking them because they were prescribed, without knowing what the purpose is or if the dosage changed recently," says Jocelyn Cajanap, RN, ED educator at Glendale (CA) Adventist Medical Center.
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When an ED physician at Scripps Mercy San Diego (CA) decided to order lorazepam to help an elderly man sleep, the ED nurse caring for the patient got a very unexpected reaction.
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If your patient has aspirated prior to being intubated, he or she is at increased risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), warns Nicole Schiever, RN, MSN, ED team leader at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, IL.
