ED Nursing articles from September 2004

ED Nursing archives from September 2004

New myocardial infarction guidelines will dramatically change your practice: recommendations are for patients sitting 'right at the very edge' of an MI.
September 1, 2004... Are all your myocardial infarction (MI) patients with ST-segment elevation (STEMI) treated with door-to-needle time within 30 minutes and door-to-balloon time within 90 minutes? And are you giving serial electrocardiograms (ECGs) to symptomatic...

Do you know how to care for adults with seizures?
September 1, 2004... Have you recently held down a flailing, seizing patient to prevent injury, doing your best to calm frantic family members while trying to find out what caused the seizure and determining what interventions are needed? These are the multiple...

You should take these steps to care for seizure patients.
September 1, 2004... The following steps are taken for seizure patients who present to the ED at St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center in Phoenix. * For patients having active seizure activity involving tonic/clonic movement: Safety precautions are taken,...

Is your restraint use too high? Try patient advocates.
September 1, 2004... (Editor's note. This is the second of a two-part series on psychiatric patients in the ED. This month, we explain how psychiatric advocates can decrease use of restraints, and a related story on p. 127 gives effective ways to avoid placing...

EDs can do these 3 things to avoid use of restraints.
September 1, 2004... When restraints are needed, it's a dangerous moment the ED that puts the nurse and patient at risk for serious injury. For many EDs, the number of dangerous moments is rising as the number of psychiatric patients increases dramatically. ...

Ready for flu season? Follow new guidelines.
September 1, 2004... It's that time of year again: Around this month, you can expect numbers of flu patients to steadily increase. This year, you'll need to comply with new flu guidelines from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),...

How to stop the spread of flu in your department.
September 1, 2004... The Bethesda, MD-based National Foundation of Infectious Diseases recommends that EDs implement an aggressive year-round infection control program. To reduce exposure to flu in your ED, use these effective strategies: * Ask patients to put...

Save reimbursement costs for lost patient property.(Cost-Saving Tip)
September 1, 2004... Is your ED too often paying out hundreds or thousands of dollars for lost patient property? That was the case at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where 300 incidents occurred in a single year. "Two or three of those incidents were...

Site gives free tools to improve care of children.(Web Alert)
September 1, 2004... It's a tool that is a common sight in most EDs, but is often used incorrectly: The Broselow Emergency Tape. The tape is part of a system that assigns children to color zones based on a single length or weight measurement, which enables access...

CE questions.
September 1, 2004... After reading this issue of ED Nursing, the CE participant should be able to: * Identify clinical, regulatory, or social issues relating to ED nursing. (See Do you know how to care for adults with seizures? and Ready for flu season? Follow...