Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Mislabeled specimen collection in the emergency department has the potential to significantly harm patients. Studies suggest that improvement efforts can reduce specimen rejection from the laboratory and reduce mislabeled specimens in emergency departments and hospital-wide. ⋯ Improving patient safety in complex clinical settings requires a systems approach. Using the established framework of clinical microsystems, along with a tenacious and persistent interdisciplinary team, helped create a reliable process for minimizing mislabeled specimens in the emergency department.
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Previous research describes a significant knowledge deficit in obstetrical care in emergency settings. In a post-Roe environment, additional medicolegal challenges are documented across the obstetrics and gynecology landscape, but an understudied care setting is the emergency department, where patients may present to a practice environment where there is limited or no obstetrical care available. It is unknown how emergency nurses make decisions around these types of presentations. The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical decision-making processes of emergency nurses in the care of patients with obstetrical emergencies in the context of limited or absent access to abortion care and the impact of those processes on patient care. ⋯ We found that emergency nurses in states with abortion care-limiting laws had significant self-reported deficits in both education and training around the management of obstetrical emergencies. In this sample, there was a surprising lack of awareness of care-limiting legislation and the clinical, ethical, and legal implications for both emergency care staff and for patients.