Should nurses be allowed to request X-rays in an accident & emergency department?

Should nurses be allowed to request X-rays in an accident & emergency department?

A prospective study was carried out during the month of November, 1990 in the A&E Department, St John's Hospital, Livingston in order to assess the extended role of the A&E nurse and their ability to request X-rays prior to patients being seen by a doctor. A total of 579 randomly selected patients were triaged by A&E Department nurses. Almost 3/4 of these patients were X-rayed at the request of...

Should the patient be allowed to die?

In considering the patient's right to a certain quality of dying, this essay outlines how the legal and ethical justifications for passive euthanasia depend on the doctrine of acts and omissions. It is suggested that this doctrine is untenable and that alternative justifications are needed. The development of the modern mechanistic approach to death is traced, showing that a possible basis for ...

Can more efficient use be made of x ray examinations in the accident and emergency department?

Increasing workloads in our radiology department prompted a study of casualty officers' use of x ray examinations, of which there were 5463 in the period. While casualty officers were in post referrals for x ray examination did not become more selective, but skills in interpreting films improved. Overall, 4.9% of trauma radiographs were misinterpreted, but this fell from 7.1% to 2.9% during ten...

Implementation of the Ottawa Ankle Rules by nurses working in an accident and emergency department.

OBJECTIVE To assess whether accident and emergency (A&E) nurses using the Ottawa Ankle Rules could detect all ankle fractures. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING A&E department of a university teaching hospital. SUBJECTS All patients who presented with ankle injuries who were initially assessed by a nurse taught the Ottawa Ankle Rules. OUTCOME MEASURES (1) The numbers of pa...

Epidemiology of burns presenting to an accident and emergency department.