JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING

exclusively to descr ibe the induc t ion of unconsc ious - ness. (There are several references that suppor t our use of the word sedative, l-s)

I f ind it difficult to conce ive of a s i tua t ion in wh ich the use of the word sedat ive versus hypnot ic in an article in the ED n u r s i n g l i terature would, in any way, affect pa t i en t care. Speak ing in terms familiar to the ED staff might , however, affect improved pa t i en t care. We wrote our article b e c a u s e we not iced a void in the ED n u r s i n g l i terature on the topic and w a n t e d to help. We and other readers no doub t would appre- ciate more informat ion wr i t ten for ED nurses by peo- ple like you who are in the field of anes thes ia , and encourage you to consider wr i t ing as well.--Lisa Powell, RN, BN, and Peggy Holt, RN, Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

References

1. Ampel L, Hott, KA, Sielaff, GW, Todd BS. An approach to airway management in the acutely head-injured patient. J Emerg Med 1980;6:1-7. 2. Morris I. Pharmacologic aids to intubation and the rapid sequence induction. Emerg Med Clin North Am 1988; 6:753-68. 3. Yamamoto LG, Yim GK, Britten AG. Rapid sequence anesthesia induction for emergency intubation. Pediatr Emerg Care 1990;6:200-13.

Leadership Symposium: Not just for managers

Dear Editor. In February 1996 1 a t t e n d e d the ENA Leadership

Sympos ium for the first t ime, and only because it was held just before the ENA State Council Pres idents Conference in Orlando. I had bel ieved tha t the Leadership Sympos ium would not necessar i ly be appl icable to me as a staff nurse, bu t was pleasant ly surpr ised to find more classes of in teres t than I could a t tend. I thoroughly enjoyed two humorous and

en l i gh t en ing sess ions by Mary Fisher. My computer l ea rn ing needs were addressed wi th a variety of ses- s ions t augh t by computer- l i tera te nurses. M a n a g e d care /heal th care reform, research, and legislat ion were other pe r t inen t topics presented .

I found the smal ler s ize of the Leade r sh ip Sympos ium (compared wi th the Scientific Assembly) to cont r ibu te to a more relaxing a tmosphere , and the smaller recept ions were more conduc ive to network- ing. Finally, and possibly a lmost as important , Florida

was a m u c h n e e d e d warm respi te for those of us n e e d i n g a break from the Midwes t winter. I enjoyed the conference, learned much, and would go a g a i n . - - Charose James, RN, BSN, CEN, Nebraska State Co un cil President

Reply

Thank you for your special c o m m e n t s about the 1996 Leadership Symposium. It was hea r t en ing to know that the commi t t ee was able to a t ta in the goals tha t were es tabl i shed for the conference. When plan- n i n g the conference, we str ived to identify courses tha t would mee t the needs of all leaders in emer- gency care, recognizing that all staff members in t h e emergency depar tment are leaders if they choose to be.

We always encourage those a t t e nd i ng the State

P res iden t s Conference to a t t e n d the Leadership Symposium. The two m e e t i n g s are scheduled so that the leaders from each state counci l can benef i t from

the sess ions offered. The oppor tuni ty to network can- not be overemphasized.

The 1996 Leadership S ympos i um Commit tee thanks you for your feedback and hopes tha t all ENA m e m b e r s will see themse lves as leaders for the future

of e m e r g e n c y care and will consider a t t end ing this conference in the future.--Karen Marsh, RN, MSN, Chairperson, i996 ENA Leadership Symposium Committee

Contact with deceased ED patients may mean exposure to infection for family and clergy: Precautions encouraged

Dear Editor. I would like to b r ing to the a t t en t ion of ED staff

the need to consider the fact tha t the risks of expo- sure to infect ion from a deceased pa t i en t are similar to those from a l iving pat ient . The risks of exposure to infect ion from the deceased to heal th care workers, 1-5 pathologis ts ,6 funera l staff, mor t i c ians , and e mba l me r s 7-1~ have b e e n doc ume n t e d . However, nowhere in the l i terature it seems, does any article

address the hazards of exposure to infectious dis- eases faced by family members , s igni f icant others, or friends who have had close physical contac t with the recent ly deceased. In my exper ience as a hospital chapla in , I f ind t ha t it is c o m m o n for family to touch, embrace , or kiss the i r d e c e a s e d loved o n e - - s o m e t i m e s wi th s ign i f i can t f o r c e - - a n d to search the body of their loved one for e v i d e n c e of the cause of d e a t h . . , especial ly with t r auma pat ients , It is not u n c o m m o n for bodies to be blood-soiled.

We are very aware of the n e e d to protect staff

from bodily fluids; we need to be equally protective of families. H u m a n i m m u n o d e f i c i e n c y virus (HIV) is a fragile virus. The risk of HIV infect ion from a recently deceased person is slight a nd decreases rapidly wi th in a mat ter of hours; however, a risk of infect ion remains . The potent ia l risk for hepat i t i s B infect ion is

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