emergency department

Angels don’t always have wings

Angels are generally thought of as having wings and appear quietly, but on October 1, 2017, hundreds of angels descended on Las Vegas wearing scrubs amidst noisy chaos.…

Astute assessment prevents paralysis

What seems like a simple pulled muscle to a shipping clerk turns out to be cauda equina syndrome, a potentially paralyzing injury that warrants immediate surgery.

Be prepared for anything

Hurry up and wait. It’s the expression used in the emergency department (ED) to explain the frustration patients experience waiting anxiously for results. It’s the same expression used…

Care, not chaos

A new document created by ANA and other groups delineates emergency care principles for psychiatric patients.

Failure is not an option…or is it?

As a soldier, I arrived in Iraq in February 2004. The trip was exhausting but ended with the most spectacular sunset. It was absolutely breathtaking. The sky was…

First-day jitters

Thoughts crash in my mind, like a storm brewing in an endless sea of desolation fueled by anxiety and fear. It’s my first day on my own as…

Helping hands of nurses

In the Army I learned what it meant to never give up as well as what it meant to succeed. I quickly mastered my mind and body to…
outfit nurse clothes attire work

How do you look?

Recently, I rushed to the emergency department (ED) at my local hospital to meet a relative who’d been taken there by ambulance. When I arrived, in my desperation…
emergency department nurse

My First Day in the ED

Note: This article was written before Kenneth graduated from nursing school. My first experience in an emergency department (ED) setting happened last week at Frankfort Regional Medical Center…
Palliative Care

Palliative care in the emergency department

Quality improvement project increases consultations.  Takeaways: The fast-paced environment of the emergency department makes it difficult to have lengthy care goal conversations, even with patients who chronic, progressive…

Paramedics help alleviate ED staffing issues

As nursing shortages around the United States continue to grow, including in emergency departments (EDs), hospital systems seek innovative solutions. Some systems have resorted to paying high salaries…

Putting an end to patient overcrowding

Serious patient-flow problems call for more than just quick fixes. In some facilities, the culture must be transformed before patient bottlenecks can be banished. Read about one hospital’s…

Reduce unnecessary transfers from clinics to EDs

When reflecting on the needs of patients using ambulatory care services, it doesn’t take long to realize that their requirements frequently exceed what these settings can offer, which…

Taking the ICU to the Patient

How one rapid response team prevents cardiac arrest and provides other life-saving benefits outside the ICU.
What’s a rapid triage assessment?

The down and dirty of triage acuity scales

An unexpected fall from a ladder, a motor vehicle accident, a sudden onset of acute chest pain…these are merely a few of the reasons people find their daily…

The freeing force of laughter

By reciting wacky dialogue from a scene in a Monty Python movie, Mary Delisle, RN, interrupted the negative thought patterns of a patient mired in dread and dispair.
What’s a rapid triage assessment?

What’s a rapid triage assessment?

Five patients arrive simultaneously into the emergency department (ED) waiting room. Who will you see first? Who will go straight to an ED bed? Who can wait for…

When it rains, it pours

Murphy’s Law says that if something can go wrong, it will. There is nothing to prepare an individual for the chaos that consumes an emergency department (ED). Education,…

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