‘The Levees Have Broken’ at emergen cy departments

The new studies examine boarding of patients in emergency departments before they are moved to inpatient beds and patients who left without being seen (LWBS), the latter presumably because of ED crowding and long wait times.

Researchers are encouraged by early efforts to read pediatric epilepsy patients via telemedicine, but say more work is necessary to reach wider populations.

Assaults in the emergency department are on the rise with nearly one-fourth (24%) of emergency physicians reporting being assaulted multiple times a week, according to the findings of a new poll from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).

As we open up the risk assessment process to the outpatient behavioral health environments, the question becomes how much risk can there be to identify as a going concern?

Lance Woolf, MBA, CHSP, has many years’ experience as a Life Safety Code® (LSC) professional. Currently, he serves as director of engineering support at JLL. Prior to that, he had other LSC-related roles, notably as a surveyor for The Joint Commission for two years.

During new lab employee orientation, safety training should be one of the first items, and it should include information about fire prevention and preparedness. Orient the new staff to the layout of the department. Show them the exits and the designated evacuation meeting location.

The Joint Commission's director of Standards Interpretation addresses common myths about surveys and surveyors.

During the 2021 Executive Briefing session, Ana Pujols McKee, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer for The Joint Commission (TJC) spoke about the importance of educating governing boards and offered a set of best practices.

Complete workplace violence (WPV) site analyses, designate a leader to oversee and report that work to the governing board, and ensure float staff are trained on your organization’s WPV prevention policies.

Develop an onboarding education program for new hospital governing board members that emphasizes each member’s responsibility to ensure safety and quality of care and services for patients.