Crossing the Line: The Devastating Harm of Placing an IV Line Into the Carotid Artery
When medical providers sometimes miss the internal jugular vein, and instead place the IV into the carotid artery, the consequences can be devastating.
Medical Error: What Your Doctors Must Tell You About the Mistakes They Make
The American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics (the Code) requires doctors to inform patients of medical error. Here's everything you need to know...
Triage: How the First Stop at the ER Determines Patient Priority
Triage is the process of sorting and prioritizing patients for care. Because the process determines a patient’s place “in line” at the ER, it is important to understand and pay attention to your triage score.
Cardiac Arrest and Heart Attack: Understanding the Difference
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, “cardiac arrest” and “heart attack” are actually not the same. Because both can be deadly and require immediate action, it is important to...
Going to the Hospital on Friday Night in July? Know the Risks.
Several factors, from the time of year to the day of the week, can affect how well a patient does in the hospital. A few weeks ago, we covered the...
Understanding Acute Ischemic Strokes
According to the Centers for Disease Control, stroke is a leading cause of death and serious impairment in the U.S. This installment introduces the most common type of stroke.
Detecting Sepsis: A Silent Killer
Sepsis is a silent illness that can lead to organ damage and even death. In this installment, we identify tools for detecting sepsis before it is too late.
The Weekend Effect: Why Hospital Risk Goes Up on Weekends and How to Mitigate It
People checking into a hospital on weekends are more likely to die than those who admitted on weekdays. The phenomenon has been dubbed “the weekend effect.”
“Bad Apple” Doctors and Nurses, or Negligent Systems — What Causes Medical Error?
Two decades of study lead to this big-picture conclusion: Medical errors flow mostly from badly designed systems — not from bad physicians and nurses.
How Can a Stroke Lead to an Amputated Leg?
A stroke usually comes from a blood clot in the brain. So how can a something that starts in the brain lead to an amputated leg? Sadly, it's not that...