The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act: what emergency nurses need to know

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal statute that should be recognized and understood by all nurses who work in an emergency department or other settings where patients with potential emergencies may present themselves for care. It is a law that imposes specific...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Nursing clinics of North America Vol. 37; no. 1; p. 19
Main Authors Mitchiner, James C, Yeh, Charlotte S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.03.2002
Subjects
Documentation - standards
Emergency Medical Services - legislation & jurisprudence
Emergency Medical Services - standards
Emergency Nursing - legislation & jurisprudence
Emergency Nursing - standards
Emergency Treatment - nursing
Emergency Treatment - standards
Humans
Mass Screening - legislation & jurisprudence
Mass Screening - standards
Patient Transfer - legislation & jurisprudence
Physical Examination - standards
Physician's Role
Triage - legislation & jurisprudence
Triage - standards
United States
United States
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Summary:The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal statute that should be recognized and understood by all nurses who work in an emergency department or other settings where patients with potential emergencies may present themselves for care. It is a law that imposes specific legal requirements on hospitals in terms of medical screening, stabilization, and transfer of patients, regardless of whether they are outpatients or inpatients. As agents of the hospital, nurses are responsible for maintaining compliance with EMTALA regulations. This article reviews the components of EMTALA and the ways in which they are applied to clinical nursing practice.
ISSN:0029-6465
DOI:10.1016/S0029-6465(03)00080-X