SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE - NURSING CONTACT HOURS

Course overview

When assessing the patient with headache, the emergency practitioner is charged with identifying the estimated 5% of this group harboring serious intracranial pathology. Included in the differential diagnosis is subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a neurosurgical emergency afflicting up to 30,000 Americans each year. Although the incidence of other types of stroke has declined substantially over the past three decades, the incidence of aneurysmal SAH has remained unchanged. Despite considerable advances in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, the outcome from SAH remains disappointing. A delay in diagnosis often results in significant patient disability or death and resulting malpractice litigation.