Case Scenario: Emergency Room
You are the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of a suburbancommunity hospital that has achieved Magnet Status twice. You arecalled because an incident report has been filed by one of theadmission clerks in the Emergency Department (ED). It appears thathe went into one of the patient rooms in the ED to obtainadditional information and found the patient, who was alone, indistress. He informed both the charge nurse and nurse responsiblefor the patient of the patient’s condition. They laughed off hisconcern, informing him that the patient was a “frequent flyer” andknown for histrionics. An hour later the patient was found dead.How, as the CNO, would you respond to this situation? Whatcoalition would you form when developing your action plan? Whatagencies need to be informed of this situation? What would youexpect to happen regarding the regulatory bodies? What actionsshould you take regarding the staff involved, the unit, and thehospital?
