Issues Within Emergency Department
Most people go to a hospital emergency room when they have been in a serious accident. They also do so when they have broken bones or other body parts that are out of place. Regardless of their justification for visiting an emergency room, most patients require immediate attention in order to capitalize on the opportunity window that can save their lives.
General processes in the emergency room are kept at a minimum in order to attend to patients as soon as possible. Usually, three processes are undertaken, and they include triage, treatment and transfer. An emergency room is not a place for chronic issues or follows ups. NURS 6053 wk 4: Issues Within Emergency Department
It only handles those matters that are out of control. However, some patients may visit the emergency room more than once because of the nature of their condition or inability of previous procedures to deal with the ailment completely. The staff members in the emergency room have special training to deal with such a high-stakes environment. Their goal is to stabilize the patient, after which they send them to other hospital units. Sometimes these individuals may be admitted in the hospital or may be fortune enough to go home.NURS 6053 Essay Assignments
Patients in emergency rooms are likely to exhibit certain characteristics that justify the need for emergency treatment. Some of them could be unconscious while others may exhibit signs of a heart attack. Such instances include chest tightness, light headedness, pressure and severe chest pains. NURS 6053 wk 4: Issues Within Emergency Department
Alternatively, people may visit the emergency room with cases of poison ingestion. Sometimes these individuals may be having a severe reaction to a previous intervention like medicine. In other scenarios, it may be brought on by a sting or bite. Patients in the emergency room are likely to have severe head injury and may even be physically or mentally disoriented. Some of the subjects may experience severe pain in a certain body part.
If the complication is lung-related, then they could have shortness of breath. Nonstop breathing as well as continuous bleeding may also be some of the symptoms that patients have in the emergency room. Others could lose sensory abilities like hearing, speech, vision and body movement. These patients may also exude body fluids from unusual places such as blood from the mouth or could have mucous-like discharge from injured parts of the body.
Inside the emergency room, patients may undergo treatment in various forms. For instance, if someone is suffering from a cardiac arrest, he or she will receive advanced life support. A person with a heart attack will enter the resuscitation room where they will receive oxygen and be subjected to an ECG test.
They will receive nitroglycerin as well as morphine for pain. A person with trauma must go through an x-ray within the shortest time possible. Once the nature of the broken bone is established, then re perfusion or surgery will take place. Such persons must receive treatment within an hour of the accident so as to increase chances of survival. NURS 6053 wk 4: Issues Within Emergency Department
Emergency rooms come in different varieties and forms depending on the nature of the injury, trauma or condition. One such emergency room is the resuscitation room. Here, very ill patients are admitted. The facility only contains equipment that deals with emergency situations.
Even the number and type of staff members must reflect this goal. In the room, one will have an attending physician as well as two nurses. Sometimes these staff members may be permanently located in the room. Alternatively, they could be available on call whenever an ambulance service enters the hospital. In resuscitation, other medical experts like technicians, medical students and pharmacists can also handle their cases.
Pediatric and mental health emergency rooms also exist in hospitals. These locations are different from the conventional ones because the groups under consideration do not share the same characteristics with conventional patients. In pediatric emergency rooms, one may find an additional staff member whose role is to ensure that children are at ease.NURS 6053 Essay Assignments
In the psychiatric emergency room, one is likely to find specialists who can handle dire mental health conditions. Psychiatrists, social workers as well as nurses may be in these facilities. Their work is to ensure that their patients do not become a risk to themselves as well as to their environment. NURS 6053 wk 4: Issues Within Emergency Department
Workers in the emergency room must think on their feet and do the right thing with limited resources. Life and death situations are quite common, so none of the employees take their work lightly. Sometimes, emergencies may occur in large proportions.
For instance, a terrorist attack may take place or a bombing may occur. In this regard, emergency rooms may need to operate beyond their capacity. When such events arise, it is sometimes necessary to divert more resources towards emergency care. Staff members, from other parts of the hospital, need to set aside their usual responsibilities and focus on urgent cases first. NURS 6053 wk 4: Issues Within Emergency Department