Exploring patients’ and family members’ experiences of care in the emergency department
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Exploring patients’ and family members’ experiences of care in the emergency department

Tahmine Salehi Assistant Professor, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Nahid Dehghan Nayeri Professor, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Eesa Mohammadi Professor, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Marjan Mardani-Hamooleh Assistant Professor, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Why you should read this article:
  • To recognise the issues that patients and family members commonly experience in the emergency department (ED)

  • To enhance your knowledge of the main factors that can influence patients and family members’ satisfaction with ED care

  • To identify the improvements that could be made to care in the ED

Background Patient experience and satisfaction are often used to evaluate the quality of care provided in emergency departments (EDs). Several studies have evaluated the experiences of patients and their family members in EDs internationally, but few studies have investigated the experiences of those attending EDs in Iran.

Aim To investigate patients and family members’ experiences of care in one ED in Iran.

Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 patients and ten family members in one ED in Tehran, Iran. A qualitative content analysis approach was used to analyse the data.

Findings Three themes emerged from the data: quality of nursing care; satisfaction with medical care and waiting times; and adequate diagnostic testing and equipment. Participants reported several issues in relation to the care provided in the ED, including a lack of attention from nursing staff, long waiting times, delays in symptom management, and family members’ involvement in care to compensate for high staff workload and overcrowding.

Conclusion The findings of this study demonstrate that the most important determinants of patients and family members’ experiences in EDs are the quality of nursing and medical care, the length of waiting times, and adequate diagnostic testing and equipment. While it may be beneficial to involve family members in patient care, regular communication with them is essential to explain challenging situations that may affect the quality of ED care, such as low staff levels.

Emergency Nurse. doi: 10.7748/en.2020.e2008

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

salehi.t@iums.ac.ir

Conflict of interest

None declared

Salehi T, Nayeri ND, Mohammadi E et al (2020) Exploring patients’ and family members’ experiences of care in the emergency department. Emergency Nurse. doi: 10.7748/en.2020.e2008

Published online: 14 July 2020

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more