Palliative care is “the prevention and relief of suffering.” Given how much suffering that we see in the ED, emergency medicine physicians should have a working knowledge of some of the key skills in this specialty: managing pain and symptoms, delivering bad news, and helping families to make difficult decisions. These are three things that we do on a daily basis and could likely improve upon with increased focus.
Boring Question: Fecal Leukocytes. Eh?
What are Fecal Leukocytes? Exactly what they sound like – white blood cells in liquefied poop. They can represent an inflammatory cause of diarrhea (acutely from infection or from an initial presentation of inflammatory bowel disease).
Tiny Tip for Acute Visual Loss: CAN U GO STARE at HIM
Acute visual loss is distressing to patients of any age. A careful history and physical exam alone may help direct you to the diagnosis in most cases. However, when the cause isn’t immediately obvious, it is helpful to have an approach to go to for considering all of the possibilities. If you’re a Canadian EM resident studying for your Royal College exams, you might also want to have this available for quick recall. Mnemonic …
Tiny Tip: The NBG Pacemaker Code
Pacemaker codes. After our exams are over we do not think about them very often. However, they’re still a useful thing for us to understand when talking to educated patients and our colleagues. Unfortunately, their 5 letter code isn’t the easiest thing to remember.
The ‘Top Five Changes’ Project: Let’s Not Forget Changes to First Aid
View PostPhone a Friend: the Noteworthy Nurses
Editor’s Note: This series was created by Gerhard Dashi and this week’s post was co-authored by Anali Maneshi. The series highlights the important work that our interprofessional colleagues do. Keep your eye open for more “Phone a Friend” articles and if you would like to be featured or know a colleague that should be highlighted follow this link to complete the questions on a google form. Background on the “Phone a Friend” series This is the third interview in …