Emergency Room Management Diagnose the Root Causes Essay

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Emergency Room Management

Diagnose the root causes of the complaints about the clinic.

In the recent number of days, the number of the patients visiting the clinic has slowly but drastically increased. In contrary to the past days, the sick patients requiring serious attention from the doctors and the available physicians have increased. In the past, most of the patients only consulted the doctor regarding the disease and infection and acquired appropriate advice and prescription of the most vital medication to use. For this reason, a small 15-bed Emergency Room designed and constructed to cater for the seriously injured patients that required full medical attention from the physicians (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003). The lack in the number of patients that required operations and keen scrutiny from the doctors is what promoted to the construction of the 15-bed Emergency Room. The poor attendance of the sick patients to the hospital checkups also discouraged the construction of a larger emergency room (Stefan, 2006).

However, in the recent months the number of the patients visiting the hospital has increased hence causing alarm concerning the adequate space and physicians readily available to offer the treatment. The increase of the patients in the clinic attributed by the diverse outbreaks in the society results the numerous patients that need proper medical attention from the doctors. Most of the patients that arrive at the clinic for treatment have advance problems with the stomach hence cannot feed adequately (Penner, 2004). This implies that admission in the clinic is vital to ensure that the patients receive the needed nutrients vital for survival. Since the number of the physicians is minimal than that of the patients, each patient is allocated a constant time that the physicians ought to check the treatment process. The lack of enough beds in the emergency rooms also attribute to the long lines that the patients visiting the hospital need to queue before acquiring any medication.

Immediately after the patients have received the drip of water and vital minerals from the doctors, the patients leave to go home with the essential dosage of medication. The overwhelming number of the patients and 15-bed Emergency Room promote to the quick sent away of the patients from the clinic. The minimal number of the physicians also contributes to the poor medical care and attention that the patients receive from the clinic. However, it is not always the case in the clinic since in most of the instances; the number of admitted patients is limited compared to the available room (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003). Instances of outbreaks and accidents contribute to the large number of the patients visiting the clinic. Considering that the physicians and the space is limited only to 15-bed which adds to 15 patients, and then it is obvious that complains will arise from the patients and visitors in the clinic.

Devise a strategic plan for overcoming the problems associated with the current ER.

In an attempt to devise strategic plan to overcome the problems associated with the current problems of overwhelming number of patients needing attention from the doctors with the 15-bed Emergency Room and lack of enough doctors, the first measure is to increase the working hours of the physicians (Egol & Strauss, 2012). In the past months, the physicians together with the nurses and other subordinate staff in the clinic have adapted the tendency of going home early. Most of the doctors and nurse because of lack of patients that require the doctor's treatment have always left for home earlier (Penner, 2004). In accordance to the claims made by the patients, some of the doctors and nurses leave the clinic as early as four o'clock in the evening and report to duty in the next day at eight o'clock. For this reason, the amount of time allocated by the physicians and nurses to work on the patients is limited enough. Most of the patients will not have enough time to explain to the doctors the problems and causes of the health problems being endure. In some cases, the period time interval that the physicians and the nurses get to attend to the patients is minimal that only the clinic attendants attend to a small percentage of the sick patients (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003).

In solving the problem facing the clinic regarding the 15-bed Emergency Room, the first strategic plan is to partition the available beds into male, female and children. Since all the three categories are part of the patients, visiting the hospital to receive the adequate treatment, then it is necessary that all the children, male and female have an equal space in the clinic.
For this reason, the children will get five beds, the female five beds and the male will have five beds. Partitioning the fifteen beds available in the clinic in that manner will reduce the congestion for all the patients that will visit the clinic (Auerbach, 2007). In dividing the beds into the three major categories also implies that in admitting the patients, all the three categories will play an essential role. The children will have their own line for admission, followed by the women with another line and eventually the male in their own line. Admitting the patients in that manner will reduce the congestion of all the patients in the entrance of the clinic. Having the specified order will also ensure that the patients receive equal amount of treatment from the doctors and nurses.

Since the number of the doctors is limited, at least one doctor is required to be in one of the three segments; the children, female and male. In each of the category, a doctor is required to ensure observation of any problems in the administered patients at an earlier stage hence receiving treatment quickly (Penner, 2004). The nurses divided into equally groups to suit the number of the patients administered in the hospital in accordance to the daily number of ill patients visiting the clinic in the morning.

In addition to the strategic plan to overcome, the problems associated with the 15-bed Emergency Room, it is vital that the moment the admitted patients feel better they are sent home but with a dosage of medication to take on a daily basis until the health returns back to normal. Since the number of the sick patients is increasing daily, it is vital that the patients treated give room to the other sick patients (Kavaler & Spiegel, 2003). However, the patients sent home ought to have a timetable offering a clear schedule of meeting the doctors on a daily basis. Reducing the number of hours the patients occupying the 15-bed Emergency Room will create room for the other new patients. However, the doctors need to release the patients if only they are feeling better and have a continuous dosage of drugs to take after they have left for home.

Justify how the "Good Samaritan Law" affects the appropriate treatment of the ER patients.

In the clinic, only a small number of patients can access the 15-bed Emergency Room because of the small space available and the number of beds for the administered patients. In relationship to the Good Samaritan Law, which states that protection to the individual that offer assistance to the injured and peril hence the right to offer medical attention will definitely affect the normal routine program of treating patients in the clinic? The small number of the beds in the clinic does not allow for a large number of patients to use the clinic facilities. This means that when the clinic has already administered fifteen patients, then there is no room for an extra patient (Egol & Strauss, 2012).

However, because of the Good Samaritan Law it will be almost impossible to ignore the incoming patient offered help from another person who is not even a relative but only a Good Samaritan. It is automatic that when a patient arrives at the hospital in the hands of a Good Samaritan, then it is the duty of the doctors and nurses to take over the case. The duty of the Good Samaritan is only to ensure that the sick patient reaches the hands of the doctor and nurses in any medical institution. After playing his/her part, it is evident that the Good Samaritan will eventually leave the patient in the hands of the doctors. In this case, the Good Samaritan Law will affect the appropriate treatment undertaken in the emergency room because of the increase in the number of the patient (Penner, 2004).

The new patient in the hospital will still require space, attention and an extra bed from the clinic to ensure that enough medical attention is given. The situation of the patients received by the nurses in the hospital also determines the number of doctors and nurses needed to deal with the sick patient. If the patient is in a trauma, it will definitely require two to three doctors to ensure that the patient is not lost through death (Auerbach, 2007).….....

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