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Emergency physicians (EPs) named in lawsuits likely won't be eager to answer detailed questions about their legal problems years down the road, but there are situations in which they'll need to do so.
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If an ED nurse is contacted by the state board of nursing about a medication error that harmed a patient, his or her first instinct might be to state, "I told them this would happen because we didn't have enough staff!"
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The view that every emergency physician (EP) is going to get sued sooner or later is "a bit of an oversimplification," according to Stephen A. Frew, JD, vice president of risk consulting at Johnson Insurance Services and a Rockford, IL-based attorney.
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ED nurses shouldn't wait to be the subject of an investigation to become familiar with the hospital's risk management department, says Karen Jarboe, RN, CEN, CCRN, a legal nurse consultant specializing in emergency medicine and a senior clinical nurse with the adult ED at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.
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If an emergency physician (EP) learns he or she is being investigated by the medical board, this should be taken seriously but not personally, advises Michael Blaivas, MD, professor of emergency medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Northside Hospital Forsyth in Cumming, GA.
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A U.S. District Court in Texas allows a physician's retaliation claim against the hospital that allegedly terminated his privileges for reporting violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
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Children with diabetes, especially type 1, remain at risk for developing diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This may seem confounding in a modern society with such advanced medical care, but the fact remains that children who are type 1 diabetics have an incidence of DKA of 8 per 100 patient years.
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Whether urban, suburban, or rural in location, every emergency department manages the victims of gunshot wounds, some more frequently than others. It is essential to follow the principles of the management of penetrating trauma and not get distracted by impressive wounds.
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The final statement,"Doctor X is leaving with the patient," dictated by Corey M. Slovis, MD, professor and chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, was regarding a critically ill patient who was being accompanied by the hospital's chief of trauma to the operating room. This was later incorrectly transcribed as "Doctor X is sleeping with the patient."
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Although the EP is responsible for medical care delivered in the ED setting, every adult of sound mind has the right to refuse medical care, says Catherine A. Marco, MD, FACEP, a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at The University of Toledo (OH).
