what is the protocol at hospitals for patients that come in with a migraine?
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at
11:24 pm
dinohub asked:
Hi, I was wondering if a patient comes in the hospital with a migraine what is the protocol for initial treatment. Do you wait till the M.D. is ready to see her, alert the R/N, or have the patient wait in a hallway bed?
Hi, I was wondering if a patient comes in the hospital with a migraine what is the protocol for initial treatment. Do you wait till the M.D. is ready to see her, alert the R/N, or have the patient wait in a hallway bed?
Tagged with: Hallway • Hospitals • Initial Treatment • Migraine • Protocol
Filed under: Migraine
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I don’t know the answer as the treatment, but I think if they weren’t busy & had the beds, they would put the patient in a bed inside the ER…if it was a busy time, then maybe have them in the hall or waiting in waiting room.
If you know it’s a migrane, why not call your primary physician rather then going to the effort and expense of an ER visit? You will get the same care but on a more personal nature… Or, if the ER is your only answer, then the protocol is the same as it is for anyone who walks into the ER… they go in, give their name at the front desk, fill out a form or 3 and then wait to be seen by the next available doctor…..
where I work, they would be triaged as last in line, but assuming there is no line, we’d give em an IV of pethdine and send em on their way.
In the US, no medicine can be given in a hospital without a doctor’s order. You would have to wait to be seen by a physician before you would be treated for your migraine. How long that is will depend on how busy your local ER is that day. (Sometimes the ER nurse will give out tylenol or motrin for fevers in kids before they are seen, but that’s a “standing order” that the physician director of the ER has already written. As far as I know, there are no standing orders for migraine patients in most ERs.)
You will be put wherever there is bed space available. Sometimes in a hallway, sometimes in a room.
We use compazine, benadryl and toradol in combination as first line therapy for migraines.
At my hospital we would triage you; or get basic info about you, and when you made it to the room we typically start with IV Reglan, Benadryl, and Toradol. The reglan is a vasodilator in the intestines which helps w/ nausea and also helps most people suffering with headaches. The benadryl also helps to dilate vessels and helps with the headache. The toradol is an anti-inflamitory medicine.