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Why shifting boarders to the inpatient unit is a good idea

Case Management Weekly, August 17, 2005

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Just because it's a long-standing "tradition" to keep boarded patients in the emergency department (ED) doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Consider the following factors before keeping boarded patients in the ED:

• EDs are geared toward medically screening the next patient. Once the admitting order has been written, the emergency physician's attention moves to the next incoming patient. After all, emergency medicine is a specialty focused on medical screening and stabilization, not on ongoing care.
• ED nurses are very skilled professionals, but they are often not as familiar with drip medications and other interventions common on inpatient units.
• There is clearly nothing superior about keeping patients in the hallway of an ED rather than the hallway of an inpatient unit.
• Patients don't necessarily stay in the temporary bed on the inpatient unit very long. It is amazing how quickly a discharge will be found to free up a bed for a patient already on the unit as opposed to the same patient neatly tucked away on someone else's unit.

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