Annals of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study
Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization in emergency department personnel.
Nasal colonization with Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can precede infection in patients and contacts. Although general population S aureus/MRSA rates are well described, the prevalence of S aureus and MRSA nasal colonization in emergency department health care workers is not defined. We seek to determine the prevalence of S aureus and MRSA nasal colonization among ED health care workers without evidence of an active site of staphylococcal infection and identify variables associated with colonization. ⋯ In this urban ED health care worker population, the prevalence of S aureus is similar but MRSA nasal colonization is higher than previously reported estimates in the general population of the United States. Physicians and nonpatient contact ED health care workers did not have MRSA colonization.
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Medication errors during hospitalization can lead to adverse drug events. Because of preoccupation by health care providers with life-threatening injuries, trauma patients may be particularly prone to medication errors. Medication reconciliation on admission can result in decreased medication errors and adverse drug events in this patient population. The purpose of this study is to determine the accuracy of medication histories obtained on trauma patients by initial health care providers compared to a medication reconciliation process by a designated clinical pharmacist after the patient's admission and secondarily to determine whether trauma-associated factors affected medication accuracy. ⋯ This study showed that medication history recorded on admission was inaccurate. This patient population overall was susceptible to medication inaccuracies from multiple sources, even with duplication of medication histories by initial health care providers. Medication reconciliation for trauma patients by a clinical pharmacist may improve safety and prevent adverse drug events but did not occur quickly in this setting.
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We assess the effect of emergency physicians' clinical experience on the propensity to commit a patient care error. ⋯ Emergency physicians with less than 1.5 years of clinical experience may be more likely to commit errors than more experienced emergency physicians.