Never miss these
Critical alerts
Every critical-severity item across the library, pulled into one list. These are the errors that harm patients — the ones worth knowing cold.
9 filed
Never administer IV potassium by push or bolus
CriticalRapid IV potassium causes fatal cardiac arrest. Always dilute, always use an infusion pump, and never exceed the ordered rate — even if a dose is late.
Potassium Imbalance →
Peaked T waves demand immediate escalation
CriticalTall, tented T waves with a widening QRS signal that hyperkalemia is already affecting conduction. This is a rapid-response situation, not a routine lab callback.
Potassium Imbalance →
Pink frothy sputum is flash pulmonary edema
CriticalSit the patient upright with legs dependent, apply oxygen, and escalate immediately. This deteriorates within minutes.
Heart Failure →
Check potassium before starting an insulin infusion
CriticalInsulin drives potassium intracellularly. Starting insulin on an already-low potassium can precipitate fatal arrhythmia.
DKA and HHS →
Only regular insulin is given intravenously
CriticalNo intermediate or long-acting insulin is ever administered IV.
DKA and HHS →
Blood cultures are drawn before antibiotics begin
CriticalOnce antibiotics are administered, cultures may fail to grow the causative organism, removing the ability to narrow therapy.
Sepsis and Septic Shock →
New confusion may be the only early sign
CriticalIn older adults, altered mental status and hypothermia can precede fever and hypotension. Treat new confusion as a perfusion problem until proven otherwise.
Sepsis and Septic Shock →
Hyperkalemia is the leading cause of death in oliguric AKI
CriticalThe failing kidney cannot excrete potassium. Monitor cardiac rhythm and escalate peaked T waves or a widening QRS immediately.
Acute Kidney Injury →
A silent chest signals impending respiratory failure
CriticalAbsent breath sounds in a distressed asthmatic mean airflow is too low to produce wheeze. Escalate immediately — do not interpret it as improvement.
Asthma and COPD →