Positive and Negetive Aspects of Emergency Care and Emergency Rooms essays

Positive and Negetive Aspects of Emergency Care and Emergency Rooms essays Many problems face the emergency room staff in their efforts to care for a variety of patients with a variety of needs and injuries. One of the negative aspects faced in the emergency room is the very real possibility of misdiagnosis because of the frenzied environment and the element of time are two of the reasons emergency room patients may be misdiagnosed. One researcher notes, "For example, an emergency room physician is sometimes forced to make a decision on the basis of inadequate patient information. Instant information about the patient's medical history, allergies, and medications would decrease the incidence of these forced errors" (Bogner 149). In addition, often the emergency room staff work long shifts, and during particularly busy shifts they may become overly tired and more prone to make mistakes in diagnosis and treatment. One emergency room failed to detect a punctured intestine in an elderly woman, and she collapsed two days later with peritonitis. Another failed to x-ray a young mountain biking accident victim, and two days later, he collapsed with a broken neck (Bogner 57, 151). These are examples of misdiagnosis and treatments that could have been prevented, and this is one negative aspect of busy emergency rooms, they may simply miss some symptoms, or misdiagnose some patients because of time constraints or shoddy information. Another negative aspect of emergency care is the overcrowding of many emergency rooms, and the long wait patients may have to endure, which can actually add to their medical woes. In fact, in 2001, only 3 percent of national emergency rooms said they never experienced overcrowding, and the problem is expected to get worse for a number of reasons ("Overcrowding," 2001). First, there is a nationwide shortage of nurses, and this translates into personnel shortages in all areas of the hospital, including the emergency room. ...