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Emergency physicians (EPs) often are called upon to perform a myriad of procedures. These procedures often are invasive and can carry a significant amount of risk. Recent studies have emphasized that EPs should routinely use ultrasound to help guide common procedures performed in the emergency department (ED).
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According to a recent study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, thorough hand washing might be the most cost-effective way to reduce the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the ED.
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Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections are on the rise, with an estimated 500,000 cases in hospitals and nursing homes each year and increased mortality rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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An elder woman brought by ambulance from an extended care facility was awake and oriented, but didn't know her medications or even the facility's name and phone number, recalls Donna Sparks, MSN, RN, CEN, director of emergency services at Baptist Hospital Miami (FL).
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If an ED nurse at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, DE, suspects a patient could be having a myocardial infarction (MI), he or she does the EKG immediately at the bedside and interprets it on the spot, says Patricia L. Blair, RN, BSN, CEN, patient care coordinator.
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When John Provost, RN, started working in the ED in 2006 at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ, he purchased a PalmPilot, then added some software with medical information.
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Are you able to try sticking your patient more than once or twice? Can you wait for the best possible nurse to be free? Do you need to consider alternative access immediately?
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Minor respiratory complaints were all that a man reported to ED nurses at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, but in fact, he was suicidal.
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Like many EDs, the one at Norwalk (CT) Hospital has an isolated room to the rear of the department where intoxicated people are brought to sober up. But don't you dare call it a "drunk tank."
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It's always an honor to win an excellence award, but the EDs in the Carolinas Healthcare System that recently were recognized for service excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Program also can point to specific areas in which they stood out. J.D. Power says it bases the award on five drivers: speed and efficiency; dignity and respect; comfort; information and communication; and emotional support.
