A 62 year old woman presents to your Emergency Department with a chief complaint of severe right eye pain. Upon further questioning, she reveals reduced vision in the affected eye and colored halos around lights. She reports a diffuse headache and two episodes of vomiting. A quick physical exam reveals significant conjunctival injection and a fixed, mid-dilated pupil. Does your differential contain acute angle closure glaucoma? What is Acute Angle Closure Glaucoma? Acute angle …
Blame-shifting ER Wait Times onto Patients.
It recently came to my attention that the UK has been deploying a public health message with regards to ER wait times; more specifically, it looks like a public education campaign aimed at redirecting “inappropriate” visits away from emergency rooms. The premise is that many minor and non-life-threatening conditions can be (and should be) treated outside the ER, and that the onus is on the patients themselves to basically triage their own ailments. …
The case for Healthcare Workers to get mandatory flu shots.
It is a very interesting social phenomenon how some healthcare workers have come to put up such an emotionally charged and adamant fight against getting vaccinated. This issue reached a head with the recent battle in British Columbia over trying to make it mandatory for frontline nurses to get the flu shot. I call this a “social phenomenon” because the surprising resistance is exponentially spurred by forces beyond any solid scientific evidence, despite …
Drunk.
Defined as someone “having the faculties impaired by alcohol” (or a more practical version: “When you have to hold onto the grass to keep from falling off the earth“), those of us who work in an acute healthcare facility are witness to many illustrious examples of drunk patients coming through our doors. Underaged kids passed out at a house party? Yup. Raging alcoholics who are brought into the ER at least once a …
Should we be punishing medical errors?
An interesting story came across my desk recently. Apparently, some states in the U.S. have moved towards a punitive model in trying deal with medical errors and adverse outcomes – this particular story describes how Utah will no longer fund healthcare providers and hospitals for dealing with illnesses that resulted from avoidable errors and infections. On the surface, it kind of makes sense – one should be punished for making a mistake, right? …