| Summary: | 碩士 === 高雄醫學大學 === 護理學研究所 === 102 === Background:
When a patient is facing threats of a major disease, emergency department (ED) is the place to search for urgent help. Yet, people often dissatisfied with the quality of care in the ED, due to long waiting time, not receiving immediate treatment, or lack of communication. However, not every patient requires immediate survival treatment.
Purpose:
This study explored the differences between "emergency" and "non-emergency" triage patients, in terms of their care needs and satisfaction of the needs, and analyzed the impact on the patients’ perceived care quality in the ED.
Methods:
Using descriptive correlational study design, this study surveyed 67 emergency triage patients and 100 non-emergency triage patients, during June 2013 to June 2014, at the ED in a medical center. The structured questionnaire included the basic demographics, perceived care needs and perceived satisfaction on the needs, and perceived quality of care.
Results:
There are no significantant differences between the emergency and non-emergency triage patients on the perceived care needs. The group of emergency triage patients received priority care because of their critical and complex conditions. Thus they had higher score on satisfaction to care needs, so does the degree of their satisfaction on the quality of ED care. Likewise, trauma patients had higher satisfaction on the quality of care. The more discrepancies between the perceived care needs and satisfaction to the needs, the less satisfaction on the quality of ED care. The variance of satisfaction on the ED care quality can be explained by the following factors, (1) trauma patients, of which the explained variance was 5.8%; (2) emergency triage, of which the explained variance was 2.5%; (3) the differences of expectation between care needs and perceived satisfaction to the needs, of which the explained variance was 11.8%.
Recommendation:
It is necessary to publicize the concept of triage at the emergency department. When facing the non-emgerency triage patients, the healthcare professionals should alleviate their anxiety level through communication with clear messages. Lucid triage policy and implication to the practice have to be addressed and reinforced in order to avoid irrealistic expectations. Future research is suggested to explore the actual impact of triage attitude on perceived quality of ED care.
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