Emergency Room Overcrowding
Healthcare reform must take emergency room overcrowding into account.
Emergency room overcrowding is characterized by a dual phenomenon:
There are actual increases in the number of patients seeking treatment.
There is also a reduction in staff and hospital resources.
Actual definitions of emergency room overcrowding include long wait times, lack of available beds, and boarding patients.
Boarding patients is both the cause and effect of emergency room overcrowding, and hospital administrators and policy makers alike must work together for solutions.
The causes of emergency room overcrowding are multifaceted.
Staff shortages are a major problem for hospitals.
Emergency physicians contend with skyrocketing liability insurance.
Nursing shortages are also creating emergency room overcrowding.
B. Budget cuts have resulted in fewer emergency rooms being built and cost-cutting in existing ones.
C. Emergency room admissions procedures are woefully inefficient.
D. Hospitals lack effective protocol for dealing with maximum capacity emergency rooms.
E. There is a lack of legislative response so far.
F. The uninsured are increasingly using the ED for their non-emergency needs.
III. The effects of emergency room overcrowding can be deadly.
A. Boarding patients, or keeping already treated or stabilized patients in the ED, prevents patients from receiving the inpatient care they need.
B. Long wait times and inefficient service can mean loss of life
IV. Possible solutions demand health care system overhaul.
A. More efficient hospital registration would streamline emergency room procedures.
B. Standing orders would allow nurses and EMTs to proceed on critical care without doctors.
C. Special fast-track and sub-waiting areas would alleviate hallway overcrowding.
D. Re-budgeting will allocate more funds to emergency admissions.
E. Reducing non-urgent visits via universal healthcare initiative would reduce unnecessary use of the emergency room.
F. Increasing hospital capacity for acute inpatient needs would replace boarding.
G. Hospitals can add support staff during critical hours.
But let's look at this resolution in a bit more depth. Briefly, processes like full capacity protocols, bedside registration, bypassing triage, adding staff during increased volume, setting up a separate "line" for treating simple fractures, lacerations, etc., establishing turn-around-time (TAT) goals for procedures and patients, can go a long way to begin to cure the problem of overcrowding (ACEP, 2008, p. 10). Full-capacity protocols. Here is a typical full-capacity protocol
Effects of Short-Staffed Nursing in Emergency Rooms Effects of Short-Staffed Nursing in Emergency RoomsIntroductionThe emergency department�s efficiency is a critical component of delivering quality and safe care within the health sector. The utilization of the emergency department significantly increased minus the corresponding increase in the available emergency services (Ramsey et al. 2018). As a result, to attend to the increased demand, it is proper to evaluate the various factors contributing
Poverty and Community Mental Health Based on the supplemental reading for this week found in the resource folder, we can agree that poverty is a solid predictor of multiple challenges found in the field of mental health. In your own words (support your response by citing your sources) express your understanding of poverty and how it influences Community Mental Health at large (your response should meet the criteria found on the
Health Policy Economics class. Master Degree level. It 8-12 pages long 10 resources. The topic Over-Utilization Emergency Room Services. I uploading project details. Reliance on emergency departments for non-emergent services has been on the increase with many people visiting them since they provide timely access to primary care. The 1985 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) mandated Medicare institutions to provide emergency departments for patients despite their regardless
There is a need for the nurse to be proficient and efficient in her work, because ED's are experiencing an increasing number of patient visits, and there are normally more patient's waiting to be seen than is appropriate for the size of the facility's ED (GAO, 2008). If we compare the patient flow and the speed with which the ED nurse must work in order to accomplish her responsibilities and
Access to Healthcare: For the last two decades, access to healthcare is an issue that has played a crucial role in leading the charge for health care reforms. Access to quality and comprehensive health care services is a crucial aspect for the realization of health equity and for enhancing the quality of health for every individual. Generally, the access to these services means the timely use of individual health services in
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now