ER staff deserve a safe place to do their jobs

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[See how they reduced average time to reach hospitalists by 50%]( with the help of an enterprise communication platform. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Aug 19, 2019 [ER staff deserve a safe place to do their jobs]( Many years ago, it was called the emergency room. Now we call it the emergency department. However, unlike so many departments in the world, the emergency department has almost too many purposes, duties, and mandates to number. However, in the process of being the under-funded safety net for American health care, it has also become […] [The System has a tremendous advantage over physicians]( My niece, whom we will call Anne, recently completed her residency. I remember Anne as a child: always smiling, always happy, idealistic. She excelled academically and chose medical school despite my reservations. I watched Anne proceed through medical school and residency, transforming before my eyes into an anxiety-riddled, sleep-deprived, irritable, and jaded physician. She said […] [Want resilience? Look to your patients.]( On a beautiful spring morning, I found myself in an outpatient OB clinic, ready to begin the last rotation of my third year of medical school. My attending physician greeted me and patiently (but quickly) showed me the ropes. I spent the better part of the day using a doppler to detect fetal heart sounds, […] [The powerful, surreal scene in an El Paso hair salon]( I am a psychiatrist living in El Paso. My husband was the orthopedic traumatologist on call at the academic center last weekend when 22 El Pasoans were murdered and 26 wounded in a mass shooting at a busy Walmart in town. The rest of this week has been oddly surreal for me or maybe numb. […] [I’m a jail physician. Here’s what likely happened to Jeffrey Epstein.]( Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide while in custody at a Manhattan detention facility has focused intense media scrutiny into jail suicide prevention procedures. Suicide is the biggest cause of death in jails in the U.S. — by far. Because of this, all jails (including the facility where Epstein was housed) have a suicide prevention policy. Since […] --------------------------------------------------------------- [Conference planners!]( Find vetted, handpicked physician speakers that shine on stage. Physician Speaking by KevinMD: [Your audience deserves the best](. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Arm yourself with new dementia information]( Everyone knows someone today who’s dealing with dementia. And as a geriatrician — that means a lot of questions come my way. Questions about parents who recently had cognitive testing, about the role of assisted living, about prevention — you name it. Dementia is out there in a way it never was before. People have […] [Should USMLE Step 1 be pass-fail?]( On March 11th and 12th, representatives from the NBME, AMA, AAMC, Federation of State Medical Boards and the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates gathered in Philadelphia for InCUS — the Invitational Conference on USMLE Scoring — to discuss potential changes regarding how Step 1 is scored. InCUS came about as a result of a […] [How drugmakers became masters at producing authorized generics]( When PDL BioPharma’s $40 million blood-pressure medicine faced the threat of a generic rival this year, the company pulled out a little-known strategy that critics say helps keep drugs expensive and competition weak. It launched its own generic version of Tekturna, a pill taken daily by thousands. PDL’s “authorized” copycat hit the market in March, […] [5 ways to lessen the physician burden in the product evaluation process]( Keeping tabs on the sheer volume of medical drugs and devices on the market is nearly impossible – the FDA approved a record 105 novel medical devices and 59 new drugs in 2018 alone. At the same, hospitals and physicians face ever-growing pressure to cut costs while improving quality. Many physicians make patient treatment decisions […] [The deadly silence of physician depression and suicide]( “It is high time for us to recognize that the physicians who spend so much of their lives caring for us are often suffering in silence, and effective interventions would be good medicine for all of us.” – Joan M. Anzia, MD On February 4, 2007, I attempted to take my own life. It was […] [A letter before the yearly checkup]( Hey there, Dr. Brown. Just wanted to send a little note to warn you that I’m coming to see you soon for my yearly “checkup.” You and I both know that this is my annual opportunity to spew all of my worries on you and for you to reassure me that I’m not dying. Have […] [The lingering effects of a mass shooting]( Veronica Kelley was working at an office building across the street from the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif., in December 2015 when a county employee and his wife entered with semiautomatic rifles and opened fire, killing 14 and wounding 22. Most of the victims were co-workers of the gunman. The couple went on to […] [Medicine is too complex for computers to keep up with or understand]( Family physicians and others have for years complained about ridiculous quality measures such as the meaningless use program, HEDIS, MACRA, etc. To its credit, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality was willing to take a step back and ask, “What does high quality look like?” Researchers led by Rebecca Etz, PhD were funded to […] [Privilege is your superpower]( The team stood around the older woman’s bedside. As one of the medical students, I prepared to meet my assigned patient. While being assigned to me, Mrs. R yelled, I’m not letting that n***** take care of me! As the only Black person in the room, her words meant for me hung in the air. […] [How a neurosurgeon uses a No Room for Error mentality when making life decisions]( As a doctor that specifically deals with brain and spine surgeries, I have adopted a No Room for Error mentality in the operating room. I believe this same mentality can be helpful in making the best possible life decisions. What do I mean by No Room for Error? It is natural to visualize the successful […] [Medical students creating their own oaths: Is that the best way to enter the profession?]( As the fall approaches, medical schools across the country are preparing for the arrival of a new crop of medical students. The primary emphasis of medical school is to teach technical competencies so that students graduate with the medical knowledge and know-how to diagnose and treat disease. Recognizing the health care is getting more and […] [New doctors are prioritizing the wrong things]( Every year, there’s this rite of passage, the passing of the baton, as our graduating senior residents move on to fellowships, or into spots as hospitalists, or to practice jobs here in New York City or other cities, and a fresh new group of newly-minted physicians arrives ready to take up the gauntlet of training […] [Clinical performance data: a physician’s friend or foe?]( According to a recent Harvard report, physician burnout is “a public health crisis that urgently demands action.” Half of all doctors report troubling symptoms: depression, exhaustion, dissatisfaction, and a sense of failure. These physicians are twice as likely to commit a serious medical error, research finds. Experts predict that if left unaddressed, burnout will further erode the mental health of […] [MKSAP: 25-year-old woman with chest pain after a motor vehicle accident]( A 25-year-old woman is evaluated in the emergency department for chest pain after a belted motor vehicle accident. She is pregnant at approximately 23 weeks’ gestation. She reports no additional symptoms and is otherwise well. Her only medication is a prenatal vitamin. On physical examination, the patient is afebrile, blood pressure is 102/62 mm Hg, […] [Drs. Lynette Charity and C. Nicole Swiner highlight the Indiana State Medical Association’s 2019 Annual Convention]( Indiana physicians! I’m excited to announce that two speakers from Physician Speaking by KevinMD, Drs. Lynette Charity and Nicole Swiner, will be conducting a day-long physician wellness workshop at the Indiana State Medical Association’s 2019 Annual Convention. Entitled, Building Your Wellness Toolkit, this two-session workshop is led by two of the nation’s leading experts on […] [The trauma of separating young children at the border]( Being a medical resident is really hard. This is not only due to the infamous number of hours you work, but you are truly responsible for patient care for the first time. That is a heavy responsibility, especially when you constantly feel inadequately prepared. You never feel like you have enough time to read, and […] [4 actionable tips for new medical interns]( People often compare internship to drinking from a fire hose. Overwhelmed by new information and workflow, interns (especially international) usually do not have a clear direction about how to optimize their working/learning experience. Here are some tips for interns to smooth their transition from a newbie into a high-functioning intern in the setting of medicine […] [10 reasons why doctors get sued]( The one thing doctors want to avoid like the plague is a lawsuit — a medical malpractice lawsuit. To be sued means the doctor loses precious time from work, endures emotional personal and family distress and is unable to fully invest oneself in providing the very best medical care possible. It is a dark cloud […] --------------------------------------------------------------- If a friend sent you this email and you want to subscribe, go to [KevinMD](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 345 Hudson Street New York NY 10014 USA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](