Emergency Department Staff Responses to a Protocol of Care for Abused Women

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 572-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Loughlin ◽  
Carla Spinola ◽  
Liz Stewart ◽  
Janet Fanslow ◽  
Robyn Norton

While there is increasing recognition by health care providers of the need to identify and intervene in cases of partner abuse, there has been little evaluation of the interventions that have been implemented. This article documents emergency department staff responses to a five-step protocol of care on partner abuse implemented in a public hospital. It draws on in-depth interviews with a range of emergency department staff members, undertaken as part of the project’s process evaluation. Findings suggest protocol training provided staff members with an opportunity to gain a greater awareness and understanding of partner abuse. Protocol use improved and consolidated existing practices; however, staff members were concerned about screening all women for abuse and highlighted areas in which further support and resources are required. Taking these factors into account may assist the appropriate and effective introduction of such protocols in other health care settings.

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 994-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Angela Castelli Dransart

The objective of this study is to identify patterns (components and processes) of reconstruction of suicide survivors. In-depth interviews were conducted with 50 survivors of suicide in Switzerland. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti and according to the Grounded Theory principles. Survivors of suicide face four major challenges: dealing with the impact of suicide, searching for meaning, clarifying responsibility, and finding a personal style of reaction and coping. The various ways in which survivors fare through the specific processes of the challenges result in various patterns of reconstruction: the vulnerability, transformation, commitment, and hard blow. The unique characteristics and dynamics of each of them are highlighted. Health care providers would benefit from an approach based on the dynamics of the various patterns of reconstruction in providing appropriate support to survivors of suicide.


1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 229-238
Author(s):  
Jill M. Baren ◽  
James S. Seidel

This section of Pediatrics in Review is designed to be clipped or duplicated and filed in a handy place in the office, clinic, or emergency department, providing a convenient and concise reference. All offices in which children are examined should have pediatric emergency equipment, supplies, drugs, policies, and procedures. The equipment, supplies, and drugs kept in the office will depend on the spectrum of ill or injured children seen in the practice. However, a source of oxygen, basic resuscitation drugs (suited to the patient population and experience of the health-care providers), and a dosage chart or weight-based dosing tape (Figure 1) should be available in all offices. The following list of drugs is fairly comprehensive and is organized according to sign or symptom needing treatment. Health-care providers should become familiar with the information regarding specific drugs that they use commonly, eg, choose a short-acting benzodiazepine such as diazepam or lorazepam for treating status epilepticus. The intraosseous (IO) route of drug administration can be used for the majority of emergency drugs listed in the chart that suggest administration by the intramuscular (IM) or intravenous (IV) routes. The IO route is appropriate for children age 6 years and younger and should be reserved for those circumstances where failure to achieve vascular access might result in loss of life or limb (ie, anaphylaxis, cardiopulmonary arrest).


CJEM ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (S1) ◽  
pp. S54-S55
Author(s):  
E. Mercier ◽  
A. Nadeau ◽  
A. Brousseau ◽  
M. Emond ◽  
J. Lowthian ◽  
...  

Introduction: This systematic scoping review aims to synthetize the available evidence on the epidemiology, risk factors, clinical characteristics, screening tools, prevention strategies, interventions and knowledge of health care providers regarding elder abuse in the emergency department (ED). Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using three databases (Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library). Grey literature was scrutinized. Studies were considered eligible when they were observational studies or randomized control trials reporting on elder abuse in the prehospital and/or ED setting. Data extraction was performed independently by two researchers and a qualitative approach was used to synthetize the findings. Results: A total of 443 citations were retrieved from which 58 studies published between 1988 and 2018 were finally included. Prevalence of elder abuse following an ED visit varied between 0.01% and 0.03%. Reporting of elder abuse to proper law authorities by ED physicians varied between 2% to 50% of suspected cases. The most common reported type of elder abuse detected was neglect followed by physical abuse. Female gender was the most consistent factor associated with elder abuse. Cognitive impairment, behavioral problems and psychiatric disorder of the patient or the caregiver were also associated with physical abuse and neglect as well as more frequent ED consultations. Several screening tools have been proposed, but ED-based validation is lacking. Literature on prehospital- or ED-initiated prevention and interventions was scarce without any controlled trial. Health care providers were poorly trained to detect and care for older adults who are suspected of being a victim of elder abuse. Conclusion: Elder abuse in the ED is an understudied topic. It remains underrecognized and underreported with ED prevalence rates lower than those in community-dwelling older adults. Health care providers reported lacking appropriate training and knowledge with regards to elder abuse. Dedicated ED studies are required.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-318
Author(s):  
Carmen King-Ramirez ◽  
Glenn Martinez

This article examines the ecology of language in an urban hospital in the U.S. Southwest. We seek to uncover how the incursion of the interpreting industry, and the ensuing language standardization that it has engendered, has affected the perception and use of Spanish among bilingual health care providers (HCPs), specifically nurses. Our findings show that the interpreting industry has not eliminated language exploitability (Alarcón & Heyman, 2013; Alarcón & Heyman, 2014) among bilingual HCPs but rather has made this exploitability more insidious. We argue that the interpreting industry has fomented a discourse of “risk” surrounding the use of Spanish in the hospital that affects bilingual HCPs’ perceptions of their own language skills by generating linguistic insecurities. We support our arguments by providing the results of a survey implemented to determine bilingual nurses’ use of certified medical interpreters (CMIs). These results are followed by excerpts from in-depth interviews conducted with bilingual nurses who participated in the aforementioned survey. Based on our findings, we determined that language the hospital’s language ecology classifies many bilingual nurses’ Spanish language skills as inadequate. We conclude by advocating for a more robust role for academic institutions in providing community education/trainings that recognize and advocate for the linguistic/cultural capital provided by bilingual HCPs.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 296-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly R. Klein ◽  
Hillary Cohen ◽  
Cindy Baseluos ◽  
John Marshall ◽  
Antonios Likourezos ◽  
...  

AbstractIntroduction:The H1N1 influenza virus has been described by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the media as a disease that could rival the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic in deaths. During the spring of 2009, emergency departments across the world saw a spike in the number of influenza cases and by June 2009, the WHO had declared H1N1 a pandemic. In order to prevent emergency department staff from becoming ill and to provide upto-date medical care to patients, information had to be disseminated quickly to emergency department staff.Methods:An anonymous Internet survey was utilized to query emergency department staff regarding communication methods and overall attitudes regarding safety and treatment during the spring of 2009.Results:The majority of emergency department staff (263; 88.3%) used multiple sources to obtain information about the H1N1 virus. There were 258 respondents (88.9%) that felt that the hospital was supplying them with the necessary information to protect themselves and their families and 280 (98.5%) felt confident that their emergency department was treating patients by the government-recommended guidelines. Statistically significant differences were noted in communication patterns between direct and indirect patient care providers.Conclusions:In general, H1N1 communication to emergency department staff was perceived as good during the initial H1N1 outbreak. However, because of the limitations associated with an online survey, these results do not allow for generalization to the total emergency department staff population. Hospital administrators may need to consider the differences in communication preferences of direct patient care providers and indirect patient care providers when distributing important information to emergency department staff during crisis and emergency situations.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Colombo ◽  
Anna Plebani ◽  
Annalisa Bosco ◽  
Massimo Agosti

Abstract BackgroundSalbutamol is a selective β2 receptor agonist widely used to treat asthma and other conditions and it often represents the treatment of choice for reversing airflow obstruction both in emergency and domiciliary settings. However, it can be associated to a broad spectrum of side effects and even paradox effects, if administered intravenously, at high doses continuous nebulized treatment and even at standard doses intermittent nebulized treatment, the latter being the most hazardous due to its infrequency. Lactic acidosis and persistent diastolic hypotension secondary to intermittent salbutamol nebulization are rare in children, moreover at standard therapeutic doses during asthma exacerbations.Case presentation We present a case of a 12 year-old boy, 34 Kg, who experienced a serious drug reaction during a moderate asthma attack, after intermittent inhaled (0.2 mg in 3 hours interval – overall 1.4 mg in 24 hours before arrival) and nebulized treatment (3.25 mg in 20 minutes interval in 60 minutes, overall 11.25 mg in our ED). He began experiencing symptoms of toxicity (tremor) in the emergency department few minutes after administration of the second dose of nebulized salbutamol, without reporting that to health care providers. Few minutes after the end of the third nebulized dose, clinical conditions worsened showing hyperglycemia (highest value 222 mg/dl), hypokalemia (lowest value 2.6 mEq/L), electrocardiogram alterations, decreased blood pressure (lowest value 87/33 mm/Hg), increased lactate serum level (highest value 8.1 mmol/L). The patient fully recovered after discontinuation of salbutamol and was discharged after 24 hours of staying in the intensive brief observation unit of our pediatric emergency department.ConclusionsWe reinforce the message that not only intravenous administration or continuous nebulization of salbutamol can lead to severe complication in children, but also intermittent therapy given at standard doses. Then, health care providers should pay attention not only in emergency settings in order to achieve prompt recognition and proper management of this adverse reaction.


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