Bartlett Regional | HouseCalls | Summer 2017

In the emergency department (ED), there is no such thing as a typical day. And that’s the way Rose Lawhorne, RN, likes it. “It’s not knowing what’s going to come through the door at any time,” she says. “It’s the relief of taking care of ear infections but knowing that you could save a life.” Lawhorne started working at Bartlett Regional Hospital 20 years ago as a clerk in registration. She eventually became an ED nurse and is now the assistant chief clinical officer. She works closely with Kimberly McDowell, RN, who moved from New Mexico to manage the Bartlett ED about a year ago. “We’re lucky to have her,” Lawhorne says. Like Lawhorne, McDowell is passionate about working in emergency medicine. “You are there at some people’s most life-changing moments,” McDowell says. “There are times that you deliver babies. And then you’re holding the hand of a nursing home patient that has no family left, as they are taking their last breath.” Like their counterparts in the rest of the U.S., staff may deal with conditions from upper respiratory issues and stomach viruses to traumatic injuries. BARTLETT REGIONAL HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT calm confidence Facing medical crises with By law, the ED is required to see anyone who comes in. “Regardless of ability to pay, we provide quality treatment to everyone. Priority is based on a risk assessment of chief complaints,” notes Lawhorne. “Our job is to think the worst possible thing is happening to you, and then stand down from there,” McDowell says. That’s why someone who shows up in the ED after you might get seen before you. “Shoulder or jaw pain could be benign, or it could be the first sign of heart attack,” Lawhorne says. “And it is our job to find out.” Whentoseekemergencytreatment McDowell and Lawhorne warn that waiting to see a medical provider can lead to getting sicker than you otherwise might have. For example, an ear infection can become meningitis or a bladder infection can progress to a kidney infection—and using the ED to manage your chronic medical conditions can lead to fragmented care. They advise that patients with chronic medical conditions see the same provider each time for the best outcomes. “The danger with waiting to get care is we have patients who show up when they are super sick,” McDowell says. 4 HouseCalls Summer 2017