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Patients with psychiatric illness who present to the ED "are frequently a challenge," according to Robert B. Takla, MD, FACEP, chief of the Emergency Center at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, MI. "Trying to determine if a patient is truly suicidal or a real danger to themselves or others is not always straightforward."
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Tennessee Supreme Court says hospital is directly liable for failure to enforce its emergency department policy that required all patients be seen by an emergency physician.
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Does your ED have policies that leave no room for nursing judgment, and instead, require specific timeframes for procedures such as re-assessments and checking of vital signs?
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It may be in the best interest of your ED patient with chest pain, seizures, or transient ischemic attack (TIA) to be admitted, but this may not occur due to factors beyond your control.
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Pediatric head trauma is one of the most common presenting complaints to the emergency department (ED).
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A female patient told ED nurses that her only complaint was back pain, with no shortness of breath, chest pain, discomfort, nausea, or vomiting.
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"More and more" preteen and adolescent patients are coming to the Emergency Department Trauma Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee with a variety of psychosocial needs, and many have underlying medical conditions as well, says Carrie L. Baumann, RN, BSN, patient care supervisor.
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An 85-year-old man who reports vomiting and diarrhea after an injury, and also happens to be on beta blockers, might have a blood pressure of 120/70 and heart rate of 82 and "look absolutely normal, even though in reality he is hypotensive and tachycardic, and he is in shock," says Justin Milici, RN, MSN, CEN, CPEN, CFRN, CCRN, TNS, education specialist for the ED at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
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A mother rushes into your ED and states that her child is having an asthma attack, but the child seems to be breathing normally.
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After a child was diagnosed with acute appendicitis at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, MO, the ED physician ordered antibiotics and dosed the patient according to the weight that was in her chart.
