I've read some previous posts on this situation, but here's how OB patients are triaged at my hospital, and I'm afraid we're going to end up in a law- suit one day. ALL OB PATIENTS are seen through the er, no matter the complaint, but if a trauma or something comes in, the OB patient is left for hours sometimes. Not to mention the fact that when the er physician gets around to evaluating them, his vag exams are never right. On some occasions, the patient is sent home from the er without ever coming to labor and delivery. This is the only hospital I have ever worked at like this. I am familiar with EMTALA, but I was wondering if anyone knew where I could find AWHONN or ACOG standards on this matter. The physician at our hospital thinks if the patients were sent straight to L&D that she would have to see all of them, and sees no harm in them being evaluated, and sometimes treated in the er. HELP!!!
