Articles Tagged With: protocols
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Patient and Family Complaints Require Careful Response
Healthcare organizations should have processes for responding to complaints from patients and families. The nature and seriousness of the complaint will dictate how much of a response is required.
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How Case Managers Can Help Victims of Trafficking
Case managers can learn skills and tactics for helping patients who have been trafficked. For example, investigators used an online training module to educate ED staff about human trafficking. Participants reported more confidence in identifying a possible human trafficking victim, noting they were more likely to screen patients for human trafficking.
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Providing Legal Cannabis Can Bring Potential Liability
Physicians who recommend medical cannabis, and their affiliated hospitals or clinics, should be aware of potential legal risks, even when state law allows medical use. Federal law prohibits physicians from prescribing cannabis, even in states that allow its use. To enable the use of cannabis for medical reasons, some states use terms such as “recommendation” or “certification” as opposed to a prescription from a physician.
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Recurring Fact Patterns in Triage-Related Med/Mal Claims
Some malpractice lawsuits stem from what happens when the patient arrived at the ED — the triage nurse misses an emergency medical condition. If the triage process failed to identify a high-acuity patient requiring expedited care, then a plaintiff could allege the triage nurse breached the standard of care.
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Not If, But When: Preparing a Proper Defense After Medication Mistakes
ED nurses should not hesitate to contact a defense attorney if a patient is harmed by a medication error. The interest of the hospital often is different from the healthcare provider. Do not assume the hospital will provide a defense for taking a shortcut. More likely, administrators will testify protocols were put into place, and place blame on the ED nurse for taking the shortcut.
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IRBs Are Reviewing Artificial Intelligence Research, Outside Expertise Needed
How might IRBs be adapted to address ethics oversight of health-related artificial intelligence research?
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ED Is Focus of Reduction in Sepsis-Related Mortality
Using a sepsis alert, combined with nursing protocols and physician order set usage, can improve core measure compliance and related mortality rates.
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Quality Improvement Project Reveals Reasons for Long IRB Approval Process
Researchers analyzed minutes of IRB meetings for 33 protocols that were approved in 2019. All 33 protocols required at least two full board reviews before approval. They also evaluated 244 protocols that were reviewed faster. Most delays were attributed to protocols that did not adequately describe the research. Some consent documents are incomprehensible to people without medical backgrounds. Safety risks, duration, and allocation of cost sometimes are unclear. All this requires feedback from the IRB, to which researchers must respond.
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Safety Protocols Reduce Risk of Self-Harm for At-Risk Patients
All EDs are at risk for unwanted outcomes, including patient self-harm. Developing and implementing comprehensive safety precautions is an important clinical and risk management strategy. Protocols should be tailored to the specific ED to address their different physical environments.
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Safety Protocol Can Prevent Self-Harm Incidents
Precautions include a focus on creating safe bathrooms, increasing the number of trained observers to monitor patients at risk, and managing access to belongings and clothing.