amandagbrink

This has happened at my hospital. We've had to take post-op patients back in the ED because there weren't any rooms for them to go to. This article articulates the EMTALA side of this problem well. Probably something administrators will ignore until someone successfully sues. https://sullivanlaw.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/bringing-inpatients-to-the-emergency-department/

Does anyone else have to chart fall risk scores on their pediatric ED patients? To me this is the height of absurdity and regulatory overreach. Toddlers fall a hundred times a day, so do we need to have an intervention plan with an autumn leaf on the door and a yellow wristband for them? Do we need to make sure a tech assists them walking everywhere? I don't mind if the inpatient nurses want to chart fall risk scores along with their Braden scales and care plans, but asking Pedi ED nurses to chart fall risk scores on every ear pain and sore throat that walks through the door is ridiculous and a waste of time.

Spend a little time on this website. The articles and research will give you a little catharsis, and maybe give you some ideas to take to your director. Front page | Hospital crowding and flow

I think I worked in the same ED as you a few years ago. At least it was the same issue with Medhost and Cerner. We were constantly having the same problem with boarding, and no one cared. And now I've heard that hospital is adding a whole new tower of beds, but they are moving from semi-private rooms to private rooms, so the hospital is not actually netting any more beds! I almost threw up when I heard that. A multi-million expansion project, and the boarding problem is not going to be affected even a little.

Great reference list. I've been doing similar research for my MSN and have gone through a lot of those same articles. The problem in most hospitals it seems, is that administrators don't think of boarding as a big deal, or if anything it's just a temporary winter problem that will eventually resolve. But they don't bother to plan ahead or up staffing in preparation. Even though the hospital has too many inpatients, they just leave it as an ED problem and expect the ED staff to figure it out. It's ridiculous that the EDs are calling in ED nurses to take care of inpatients.