Improving Patient Understanding of Emergency Department Discharge Instructions.

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that patients in the emergency department (ED) are frequently given incomplete discharge instructions that are written at least four grade levels above the recommended sixth-grade reading level, leading to poor understanding. Our aims in this study were to implement standardized discharge instructions containing six key components written at a more appropriate reading level for common emergency department (ED) diagnoses to improve patient understanding.

Methods: We conducted this study in a 20-bed ED at an urban Veteran's Administration hospital.

When Things Go Right: Safety II in an Academic Emergency Department.

Objectives Historically, "safety" has been defined as an absence of error. Practice variability of any kind has been viewed as a threat. This is termed Safety I.

Duty to Family: Ethical Considerations in the Resuscitation Bay.

AbstractTo examine the ethical duty to patients and families in the setting of the resuscitation bay, we address a case with a focus on providing optimal care and communication to family members. We present a case of nonsurvivable traumatic injury in a minor, focusing on how allowing family more time at the bedside impacts the quality of death and what duty exists to maintain an emotionally optimal environment for family grieving and acceptance. Our analysis proposes tenets for patient and family-centric care that, in alignment with trauma-informed care principles, optimize the long-term well-being of the family, namely valuing family desires and sensitivity to location.

Mortality in the Emergency Department and the Effectiveness of Conventional Safety Event Reporting.

Background Patient mortality reviews identify care, system, and process deficiencies. Patient deaths undergo quarterly review in our academic emergency department (ED), whereas in other departments, mortality reviews are requested by the pronouncing physician within 24 hours. In the ED, individual physicians encounter barriers to 24-hour reviews, including feasibility, the perception of futility, re-exposure to traumatic events, and a high frequency of pre-hospital and non-preventable deaths.

Video Education Intervention in the Emergency Department.

Introduction: After discharge from the emergency department (ED), pain management challenges parents, who have been shown to undertreat their children's pain. Our goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of a five-minute instructional video for parents on pain treatment in the home setting to address common misconceptions about home pediatric pain management.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, single-blinded clinical trial of parents of children ages 1-18 years who presented with a painful condition, were evaluated, and were discharged home from a large, tertiary care pediatric ED.

The use of a porcelain repair technique to improve the plane of occlusion of an existing restoration.

This article describes the use of an indirect porcelain repair technique to improve the occlusal relationship between a new fixed partial denture and an existing one. Porcelain repair techniques offer a conservative, minimally invasive, and cost-effective method of improving the opposing occlusion without replacing an existing restoration.

Flapless implant placement with crown lengthening procedure to correct crown height: a case report.

Bone loss and soft tissue loss are common problems after tooth extraction and that can lead to excessive length of clinical crowns. This problem can be exacerbated by delaying implant placement after tooth extraction. In this case the opposite occurred.

Implant-supported rehabilitation of severe malocclusion due to unilateral condylar hypoplasia: case report.

Unilateral condylar hypoplasia results in facial, skeletal, and dental deformity and is a condition that is often treated with surgery and orthodontics. This report describes implant-supported prosthodontic rehabilitation in a 70-year-old patient who chose not to undergo orthognathic surgery. The patient underwent full-mouth dental extraction and placement of 9 maxillary and 5 mandibular implants.

The myth of instant orthodontics: an ethical quandary.

Background: There is a clinical trend of using porcelain veneer restorations (PVRs) for the correction of malaligned anterior teeth. Use of PVRs for this purpose raises clinical and ethical dilemmas.

Types Of Studies Reviewed: A literature review of four different topics (PVR preparation, enamel thickness of anterior teeth, dentinal bonding adhesive effectiveness and PVR long-term success) was conducted to determine the optimal preparation for a successful PVR.