ED Management
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EDs Face OSHA Citations for Failing to Prevent Violence
OSHA cited a Texas hospital for failing to adequately protect employees from violence, after a patient assaulted a security officer who lost consciousness and was subsequently hospitalized. The agency noted the hospital had not created policies and procedures to protect employees from assault by patients who had exhibited violent behavior.
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Patients with Limited English Proficiency Pose Risks
It is critical for administrators to provide professional interpreter services for all languages commonly spoken among patient populations that present to emergency departments most often.
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Quality Improvement Project Aims to Decelerate Aggressive Hypertension Treatment
Although there might be good intentions behind administering intravenous antihypertensive medication, staff should remain mindful of possible consequences.
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ACEP, ENA Push Congress to Act on Workplace Violence, Expand Mental Health Resources
The threat of violence against healthcare workers compromises the ability of emergency clinicians to deliver the highest-quality care. Meanwhile, there is a lack of resources to provide patients struggling with mental health concerns with the proper treatment or to place them in a setting where the right care can be provided.
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EDs Need Clarity on Policies for Law Enforcement Interactions
Any hospital policy related to patients who are in custody or incarcerated should be developed in conjunction with the relevant law enforcement agencies. Leaders should establish that patients in custody with capacity are their own medical decision-makers. The policy also should include how to identify an appropriate surrogate decision-maker, if necessary.
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What Happens if Police Bring a Child to the ED?
Try gathering healthcare providers, quality officers, the legal department, security, and local law enforcement monthly to discuss disagreements about minors in custody. These conversations can inform efforts to revise policies, with the goal of preventing future disputes.
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Emergency Nurse Criminally Charged for Diverting Pain Medications
There are specific malpractice risks for EDs in this situation. Risks for patients include inadequate pain relief and infectious disease transmission. There also are patient safety issues related to receiving care from an impaired provider. For leaders, there are processes to put in place that can help them identify patterns or trends indicating potential diversion.
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Patient Progression Hub Optimizes Throughput, Centralizes Decision-Making
Children’s Mercy in Kansas City aims to leverage an impressive array of artificial intelligence-driven tools, predictive analytics, and other feats of engineering to hone patient flow to new heights of efficiency.
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When ED Is Packed, Keep Patients Moving with Triage Hallway, Dedicated Staff
Since Pull to Infinity was implemented in June 2022, the average time it takes to see a provider in the ED has dropped from 22 minutes to seven minutes. This, despite continually expanding volumes. The average patient arrival-to-discharge time has improved to 175 minutes, down seven minutes. Also, the leave-without-being-seen rate declined from 3.5% last year to 1.6% in the first four months of 2023.
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ChatGPT Provides Solid Responses to Virtual Medical Questions
Artificial intelligence tool provided empathetic, quality answers to online queries, which could help clinicians save time on electronic health record documentation work.