Emergency Room Management Diagnose the Root Causes

Emergency Room Management

Diagnose the root causes of the complaints about the clinic.

In the recent number of days, the number of the patients visiting the clinic has slowly but drastically increased. In contrary to the past days, the sick patients requiring serious attention from the doctors and the available physicians have increased. In the past, most of the patients only consulted the doctor regarding the disease and infection and acquired appropriate advice and prescription of the most vital medication to use. For this reason, a small 15-bed Emergency Room designed and constructed to cater for the seriously injured patients that required full medical attention from the physicians (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003). The lack in the number of patients that required operations and keen scrutiny from the doctors is what promoted to the construction of the 15-bed Emergency Room. The poor attendance of the sick patients to the hospital checkups also discouraged the construction of a larger emergency room (Stefan, 2006).

However, in the recent months the number of the patients visiting the hospital has increased hence causing alarm concerning the adequate space and physicians readily available to offer the treatment. The increase of the patients in the clinic attributed by the diverse outbreaks in the society results the numerous patients that need proper medical attention from the doctors. Most of the patients that arrive at the clinic for treatment have advance problems with the stomach hence cannot feed adequately (Penner, 2004). This implies that admission in the clinic is vital to ensure that the patients receive the needed nutrients vital for survival. Since the number of the physicians is minimal than that of the patients, each patient is allocated a constant time that the physicians ought to check the treatment process. The lack of enough beds in the emergency rooms also attribute to the long lines that the patients visiting the hospital need to queue before acquiring any medication.

Immediately after the patients have received the drip of water and vital minerals from the doctors, the patients leave to go home with the essential dosage of medication. The overwhelming number of the patients and 15-bed Emergency Room promote to the quick sent away of the patients from the clinic. The minimal number of the physicians also contributes to the poor medical care and attention that the patients receive from the clinic. However, it is not always the case in the clinic since in most of the instances; the number of admitted patients is limited compared to the available room (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003). Instances of outbreaks and accidents contribute to the large number of the patients visiting the clinic. Considering that the physicians and the space is limited only to 15-bed which adds to 15 patients, and then it is obvious that complains will arise from the patients and visitors in the clinic.

Devise a strategic plan for overcoming the problems associated with the current ER.

In an attempt to devise strategic plan to overcome the problems associated with the current problems of overwhelming number of patients needing attention from the doctors with the 15-bed Emergency Room and lack of enough doctors, the first measure is to increase the working hours of the physicians (Egol & Strauss, 2012). In the past months, the physicians together with the nurses and other subordinate staff in the clinic have adapted the tendency of going home early. Most of the doctors and nurse because of lack of patients that require the doctor's treatment have always left for home earlier (Penner, 2004). In accordance to the claims made by the patients, some of the doctors and nurses leave the clinic as early as four o'clock in the evening and report to duty in the next day at eight o'clock. For this reason, the amount of time allocated by the physicians and nurses to work on the patients is limited enough. Most of the patients will not have enough time to explain to the doctors the problems and causes of the health problems being endure. In some cases, the period time interval that the physicians and the nurses get to attend to the patients is minimal that only the clinic attendants attend to a small percentage of the sick patients (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003).

In solving the problem facing the clinic regarding the 15-bed Emergency Room, the first strategic plan is to partition the available beds into male, female and children. Since all the three categories are part of the patients, visiting the hospital to receive the adequate treatment, then it is necessary that all the children, male and female have an equal space in the clinic. For this reason, the children will get five beds, the female five beds and the male will have five beds. Partitioning the fifteen beds available in the clinic in that manner will reduce the congestion for all the patients that will visit the clinic (Auerbach, 2007). In dividing the beds into the three major categories also implies that in admitting the patients, all the three categories will play an essential role. The children will have their own line for admission, followed by the women with another line and eventually the male in their own line. Admitting the patients in that manner will reduce the congestion of all the patients in the entrance of the clinic. Having the specified order will also ensure that the patients receive equal amount of treatment from the doctors and nurses.

Since the number of the doctors is limited, at least one doctor is required to be in one of the three segments; the children, female and male. In each of the category, a doctor is required to ensure observation of any problems in the administered patients at an earlier stage hence receiving treatment quickly (Penner, 2004). The nurses divided into equally groups to suit the number of the patients administered in the hospital in accordance to the daily number of ill patients visiting the clinic in the morning.

In addition to the strategic plan to overcome, the problems associated with the 15-bed Emergency Room, it is vital that the moment the admitted patients feel better they are sent home but with a dosage of medication to take on a daily basis until the health returns back to normal. Since the number of the sick patients is increasing daily, it is vital that the patients treated give room to the other sick patients (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003). However, the patients sent home ought to have a timetable offering a clear schedule of meeting the doctors on a daily basis. Reducing the number of hours the patients occupying the 15-bed Emergency Room will create room for the other new patients. However, the doctors need to release the patients if only they are feeling better and have a continuous dosage of drugs to take after they have left for home.

Justify how the "Good Samaritan Law" affects the appropriate treatment of the ER patients.

In the clinic, only a small number of patients can access the 15-bed Emergency Room because of the small space available and the number of beds for the administered patients. In relationship to the Good Samaritan Law, which states that protection to the individual that offer assistance to the injured and peril hence the right to offer medical attention will definitely affect the normal routine program of treating patients in the clinic? The small number of the beds in the clinic does not allow for a large number of patients to use the clinic facilities. This means that when the clinic has already administered fifteen patients, then there is no room for an extra patient (Egol & Strauss, 2012).

However, because of the Good Samaritan Law it will be almost impossible to ignore the incoming patient offered help from another person who is not even a relative but only a Good Samaritan. It is automatic that when a patient arrives at the hospital in the hands of a Good Samaritan, then it is the duty of the doctors and nurses to take over the case. The duty of the Good Samaritan is only to ensure that the sick patient reaches the hands of the doctor and nurses in any medical institution. After playing his/her part, it is evident that the Good Samaritan will eventually leave the patient in the hands of the doctors. In this case, the Good Samaritan Law will affect the appropriate treatment undertaken in the emergency room because of the increase in the number of the patient (Penner, 2004).

The new patient in the hospital will still require space, attention and an extra bed from the clinic to ensure that enough medical attention is given. The situation of the patients received by the nurses in the hospital also determines the number of doctors and nurses needed to deal with the sick patient. If the patient is in a trauma, it will definitely require two to three doctors to ensure that the patient is not lost through death (Auerbach, 2007). The situation even becomes worse if the patient require an urgent operation in the case of patients received from accidents. Since the patients received via the Good Samaritan might be in a danger state than the normal patients, it is evident that the doctors and nurses will abandon the other duties to treat the emergency patient. The Good Samaritan law requires that the emergency patients brought in by the Samaritan received immediate health care from the health institution (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003).

In this case, the doctors will have to create enough space for the emergency patient received from the Good Samaritan. Since the space is limited, the doctors in this case will have to eliminate one of the sick patient from the hospital to go back home. However, this will only depend on the health condition of the patient received and the risks that he/she is exposed to health wise. The attention of both the nurses and doctors will move from the other patients existing in the hospital to the sick patient received from the Samaritan. The medical attention offered to the other patient will shift to the new emergency patient (Stefan, 2006).

4. Analyze how the different levels of emergency services (basic, intermediate, transfer, and trauma) should be prioritized in the strategic plan.

Although all the cases of patients that utilize the 15-bed Emergency Room are emergency cases, the level of the emergency also determines the pace occupied and duration. The first emergency service is the basic emergency in which the patient is not in a critical condition. In such a case, the patient will only receive first aid assist and quick treatment from the doctors. The patient receives a prescription, which is the best medication and dosage to assist in healing the problem. After the attention from the doctors, the patient will be released and guardian in charge given the appropriate medication instructions possible (Penner, 2004).

The second level of emergency is the most common situation in which most of the patients received in the clinic always are in the condition. The intermediate level of emergency will only require several hours of medical attention from both the nurses and doctors and the patient will recover from the sickness. In a maximum of almost six hours, the patients will receive adequate treatment and then leave for home with the prescribed medicines and checkups from the doctors. The third level of the emergency service in treating the patients is the patients in emergency state but require facilities and services not offered in the clinic (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003). Since some of the patients in the hospital might require other services not offered in the clinic, transfer to other medical institution is vital. For instance, in the case of mental surgery and heart surgery, other medical institution are required hence the essence of transferring the patient.

In the case of the trauma emergency case in which the patient might visit the clinic in seriously injured condition, the best alternative is to offer the best medication and treatment that the doctor can offer. The first step is to identify if the patient is a child, female and adult and place the child in the required category. The second procedure is to ensure that all the doctors and nurses contribute towards saving the life of the patient (Stefan, 2006). The doctors also need to ensure that all the available medical tools are essential in healing the emergency patient and restoring back the health to normal.

5. Formulate a plan to treat adults, minors, emancipated minors, or incompetent adults in the new ER organization

The best formula vital in the treating of adults and minors is the segmentation of the patients visiting the clinic into the three chief categories; children, female and male. Each of the adults, minor patients will have enough time to explain the problem to the doctor and at the same time acquire equal treatment. In most of the time, problems always arise in treating the adults and minors because of lack of differentiation of the patients visiting the hospital (Egol & Strauss, 2012). Again, the mode of treatment of the minors is not equivalent to the techniques used in treating the adults. In this case, the idea of distributing the doctors and nurses available to suit the three key levels of patients is necessary (Penner, 2004). Since each category of the patients needs to specialize and compose of the key strategies of treating each level, then it is vital that the doctors have a special way and time of learning each of the patient categories to receive positive feedback from the doctors.