Accidental Ingestion of Hearing Aid with Exposed Battery.

A 59-year-old female presented to the emergency department (ED) three days after accidental ingestion of an intact in-the-ear hearing aid. This is the first report of ingestion of a complete hearing aid traveling past the gastroesophageal junction. Of concern was the exposed battery attached to the hearing aid that had advanced minimally in the three days since last evaluation.

Inability of Physicians and Nurses to Predict Patient Satisfaction in the Emergency Department.

Introduction: Patient satisfaction is a commonly assessed dimension of emergency department (ED) care quality. The ability of ED clinicians to estimate patient satisfaction is unknown. We sought to evaluate the ability of emergency medicine resident physicians and nurses to predict patient-reported satisfaction with physician and nursing care, pain levels, and understanding of discharge instructions.