Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Medication errors are frequent in the emergency department (ED). The unique operating characteristics of the ED may exacerbate their rate and severity. They are associated with variable clinical outcomes that range from inconsequential to death. ⋯ The capability for dispensing medication, without surveillance by a pharmacist, provides an error-producing condition to which physicians and nurses should be especially vigilant. Except in very limited and defined situations, physicians should not administer medications. Adherence to defined roles would reduce the team communication errors that are a common theme in the cases described here.
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Comparative Study
Repeat patients to the emergency department in a statewide database.
To describe the epidemiology of repeat users of the emergency department (ED) using a statewide database. ⋯ Due to the high turnover in serial patients, control groups in future studies are necessary to evaluate interventions aimed at decreasing serial ED use. The likelihood of serial ED users to use multiple EDs indicates that those studying serial ED use should collect data from multiple EDs.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The validity of emergency department triage blood pressure measurements.
Automated blood pressure (ABP) devices are ubiquitous at emergency department (ED) triage. Previous studies failed to evaluate ABP devices against accepted reference standards or demonstrate triage readings as accurate reflections of blood pressure (BP). This study evaluated ED triage measurements made using an ABP device and assessed agreement between triage BP and BP taken under recommended conditions. ⋯ ABP triage measurements show significant discrepancies from a reference standard. Repeat measurements following AHA standards demonstrate significant decreases in the measured blood pressures.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Pain scores improve analgesic administration patterns for trauma patients in the emergency department.
To determine the efficacy of pain scores in improving pain management practices for trauma patients in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Pain assessment using VPS increased the likelihood of analgesic administration to trauma patients with higher pain scores in the ED.