Few would take issue with the notion that there is vast potential for electronic medical records (EMRs) to improve emergency care and boost efficiency.
Despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA, and many other public health authorities that all health care workers receive flu shots each year, there continues to be considerable resistance among the health care workers themselves.
With hospitals open for business on a 24/7 basis, it can be difficult for physicians, nurses, and allied professionals to get adequate rest as well sufficient time between scheduled shifts.
Is there a better way for ED managers to stay on top of flu outbreaks and the corresponding surges in patient volume?
With a national shortage of neurologists, it is impossible for all hospital EDs to have neurology specialty expertise on site whenever patients with symptoms of stroke present for care.
Complete upper airway obstruction is a rare complication of disease entities in the pediatric patient population; however, it needs to remain high on the differential diagnosis because it can abruptly become a life or death scenario. Respiratory compromise has long been known to be the leading cause of cardiac arrest in children.
Despite continuing pressure to streamline operations, a small but growing number of EDs are adding clinical pharmacists with specialized training in emergency medicine to their ranks.
When Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, NJ, redesigned the ED to handle increasing patient volume back in 2001, its guarantee to see and treat patients quickly kind of "went by the wayside," explains Lisa Breza, RN, BSN, the hospital's chief nursing officer.
