Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Turning A Blind Eye: How Lack Of Communication With Er Nurses Nearly Cost A Patient Permanent Vision Loss, Kenneth Royal, April Kedrowicz

Patient Experience Journal

This narrative presents a case in which a patient was treated for conjunctivitis, but a breakdown in several layers of communication (between the hospital and the patient, and between hospital personnel) resulted in multiple medical errors that nearly costs the patient permanent vision loss. This real-life case underscores how simple communication errors may lead to life-altering consequences. Recommendations for improving communication to ensure similar errors do not happen to others are provided.

Decreasing Time To Broad Spectrum Antibiotics For Septic Patients In The Emergency Department, Joseph J. Zieminski, Emily E. Bryant

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Background: Timely administration of broad spectrum antibiotics has been shown to be directly correlated with decreased mortality for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. As such, both the Surviving Sepsis Campaign and the SEP-1 CMS measure recognize timely antibiotic administration as a cornerstone of therapy for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.

Purpose: Decrease time to broad spectrum antibiotic administration for septic patients in the emergency department (ED) of Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Methods: An alert within the electronic medical record was created to more rapidly identify potentially septic patients in the ED. After receiving the alert, …

The Effects Of Obesity On Outcomes In Trauma Injury: Overview Of The Current Literature, Milad Modarresi, Brad Gillon, Javad Najjar Mojarrab, Rodrigo Aguilar, Zackary Dylan Hunter, Matthew Steven Schade, Jackie Sanabria, Rebecca Klug, Seth Adkins, Juan R. Sanabria

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is now considered a chronic disease by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the West. Its impact on trauma outcomes is of particular interest with several studies presenting conflicting information. The present overview suggests a strong association between obesity and injury severity, hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, pattern of injury, rate of complications and mortality. The nature of the observations may relate to an underlying physiological state of the obese patient and its associated comorbidities with a constant heightened inflammatory state aggravated by the second hit on an …

Emergency Surgery And Limitation Of Therapeutic Effort In Relation To Neurologic Deterioration In Elderly Patients – A Survey Of European Surgeons, Mihai Paduraru, Luca Ponchietti, Isidro M. Casas, Jorge Pereira, Aitor Landaluce-Olavarria, Diego Mariani

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Background. In emergency surgery, a very heterogeneous approach is required in the decision making process, especially when considering the patient’s postoperative quality of life as well as medical, ethical, and legal factors. In some cases, the presence of an Advance Directive (AD) form may potentially help resolve the surgeon’s dilemma. Objectives. The primary objective of this survey was to investigate the opinions of surgeons across a representative cross-section of European countries regarding the decision making process using a specific case scenario so as to identify similarities and differences in practice. A secondary objective was to identify the possibility of establishing …