The risks of boarding Inpatients in the Emergency Department
- Jim Blankenship
- Feb 22
- 2 min read
Thank you all for visiting my blog. I recently came across a LinkedIn post about studies on the risks of keeping inpatients in the Emergency Department. I responded to the author, who concluded that the reports showed minimal negative outcomes.
I'm certain many of you have horror stories similar to those I've encountered as both a Nurse and a leader. This is a truly enlightening discussion! Please share your experiences in the comments! Below is my reply and the link to the original post.
Dr. Spillman and Dr Scaletta, thank you both for keeping this subject on our minds, because we will be dealing with this type of situation again! As an interim Emergency Director for many hospitals during the pandemic, I can attest that the letter to the President reflects the "real" dangers of boarding patients in the ED. The ED is meant to be a fluid and moving process until the patient can be cared for in a proper inpatient setting or transferred to another facility with a higher level of care.
We all realize that boarding patients in the ED became necessary during the pandemic due to the lack of patient rooms and staff. However, the long-term problem is that after the pandemic, many C-suite administrators have been enlightened and feel that boarding in the ED is now acceptable and continue this dangerous practice. Our EDs still stay full with "emergent" patients, and boarding med/surg patients in the ED only compromises the care of all patients.
Studies reflect only a numbers attitude, which is not a real-world scenario. Again, thanks to all our brothers and sisters for their relentless compassion and efforts to care for all patients under the worst possible conditions!
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