Physicians describe treating patients in crippled New Orleans hospitals
Patient Safety Monitor Alert, September 28, 2005
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Patient Safety Monitor Alert!
Physicians relied on experience and creativity to treat patients after Hurricane Katrina devastated hospitals. Without electricity, running water, or communications, physicians and nurses resorted to manually maintaining IV drips and other make-do tactics, according to an essay in the New York Times.
The crisis in New Orleans highlighted the increasing reliance on technology in the healthcare industry. In the powerless hospitals, more than radiological exams and MRIs were lost. Simple procedures like starting an IV drip became labor-intensive events, requiring nurses to literally use eye droppers to administer the medications.
Without the ability to order technical tests and back-ups, physicians had to rely on their expertise and experience when assessing patient needs. The task was made more difficult by the deteriorating condition of the hospitals and the rising frustration and anger of patients and families trapped in the facility.
To read the complete essay, click here.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Patient Safety Monitor Alert!
Related Products
-
Patient Safety Monitor
As part of your Patient Safety Monitor membership, you'll receive Briefings on Patient Safety. In this 12-page monthly...
-
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
This e-mail newsletter provides healthcare professionals with the latest patient safety news, while offering useful...
-
Patient Safety Quality Monthly
Ken Rohde, Senior Consultant for The Greeley Company with over 25 years of experience in quality management. His roles in...
-
Occurrence Reporting:
Take advantage of the information occurrence reports provide and make sustainable enhancements at your facility. Expert...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- HIPAA Q&A: Answering service messages
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- E-mailed
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Q&A: Coding 'aspiration without pneumonia'
- Q&A tackles coding questions about injections and infusions
- Joint Commission Center announces handoff communication solutions
- Inside best practice: Reduce patient falls with a stoplight
- Identify modifiable risk factors to prevent patient falls
- Hospitalist-surgeon comanagement has no effect on outcomes
- Case Management Monthly, June 2012
- Searched