Experiences of family members of elderly patients in the emergency department: A qualitative study

"I don't Want to Die Alone" Nurses' Perception of Ageism: A Qualitative Study

The aim of the study was to learn the perceptions and thoughts of nurses with whom older patients interact constantly. In this research, semi-structured interview was used. In a research hospital in Istanbul between March-June 2019, 16 volunteers were included in the study. Researchers led individual semi-structured interviews regarding nurses' perceptions, how they overcame those challenges, and need and expectations aging care (dying patients). All interviews were analysed using thematic analysis methods and synthesized into major themes. The research was planned based on the 32-item checklist (COREQ) guideline. Nurses (N = 16) reported three themes: (i) ageing perceptions (ii) care for dying patients, (iii) expectations and five subthemes emerged in this study. It is understood that nurses have a positive perception of ageing. In addition, nurses have expectations from the state (financial support, gerontology service etc.) and society (respectful, understanding etc.) to reduce the difficulties they experience while caring for dying patient.

Identifying models of care to improve outcomes for older people with urgent care needs: a mixed methods approach to develop a system dynamics model

Background

We aimed to understand urgent and emergency care pathways for older people and develop a decision support tool using a mixed methods study design.

Objective(s), study design, settings and participants

Work package 1 identified best practice through a review of reviews, patient, carer and professional interviews. Work package 2 involved qualitative case studies of selected urgent and emergency care pathways in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Work package 3 analysed linked databases describing urgent and emergency care pathways identifying patient, provider and pathway factors that explain differences in outcomes and costs. Work package 4 developed a system dynamics tool to compare emergency interventions.

Results

A total of 18 reviews summarising 128 primary studies found that integrated social and medical care, screening and assessment, follow-up and monitoring of service outcomes were important. Forty patient/carer participants described emergency department attendances; most reported a reluctance to attend. Participants emphasised the importance of being treated with dignity, timely and accurate information provision and involvement in decision-making. Receiving care in a calm environment with attention to personal comfort and basic physical needs were key. Patient goals included diagnosis and resolution, well-planned discharge home and retaining physical function. Participants perceived many of these goals of care were not attained. A total of 21 professional participants were interviewed and 23 participated in focus groups, largely confirming the review evidence. Implementation challenges identified included the urgent and emergency care environment, organisational approaches to service development, staff skills and resources. Work package 2 involved 45 interviews and 30 hours of observation in four contrasting emergency departments. Key themes relating to implementation included: intervention-related staff: frailty mindset and behaviours resources: workforce, space, and physical environment operational influences: referral criteria, frailty assessment, operating hours, transport. context-related links with community, social and primary care organisation and management support COVID-19 pandemic. approaches to implementation service/quality improvement networks engaging staff and building relationships education about frailty evidence. The linked databases in work package 3 comprised 359,945 older people and 1,035,045 observations. The most powerful predictors of four-hour wait and transfer to hospital were age, previous attendance, out-of-hours attendance and call handler designation of urgency. Drawing upon the previous work packages and working closely with a wide range of patient and professional stakeholders, we developed an system dynamics tool that modelled five evidence-based urgent and emergency care interventions and their impact on the whole system in terms of reducing admissions, readmissions, and hospital related mortality.

Limitations

Across the reviews there was incomplete reporting of interventions. People living with severe frailty and from ethnic minorities were under-represented in the patient/carer interviews. The linked databases did not include patient reported outcomes. The system dynamics model was limited to evidence-based interventions, which could not be modelled conjointly.

Conclusions

We have reaffirmed the poor outcomes frequently experienced by many older people living with urgent care needs. We have identified interventions that could improve patient and service outcomes, as well as implementation tools and strategies to help including clinicians, service managers and commissioners improve emergency care for older people.

Future work

Future work will focus on refining the system dynamics model, specifically including patient-reported outcome measures and pre-hospital services for older people living with frailty who have urgent care needs.

Study registrations

This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42018111461. WP 1.2: University of Leicester ethics: 17525-spc3-ls:healthsciences, WP 2: IRAS 262143, CAG 19/CAG/0194, WP 3: IRAS 215818, REC 17/YH/0024, CAG 17/CAG/0024.

Funding

This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme [project number 17/05/96 (Emergency Care for Older People)] and will be published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 11, No. 14. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

The Experience of Families Accompanying a Senior to the Emergency Department: A Scoping Review

INTRODUCTION

Seniors are often accompanied by a family member to the emergency department. Families advocate for their needs and contribute to the continuity of care. However, they often feel excluded from care. To improve the quality and safety of care for seniors, it is necessary to consider the experience of families in the emergency department. The aim was to identify and synthesize the available scientific literature dealing with the experience of families accompanying a senior to the emergency department. To identify and synthesize the available scientific literature dealing with the experience of families accompanying a senior to the emergency department.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley framework. Six databases were targeted. A description of the identified scientific literature and an inductive content analysis were performed.

RESULTS

Of the 3082 articles retrieved, 19 met the inclusion criteria. Most articles (89%) were published since 2010, were from nursing (63%), and used a qualitative research design (79%). The content analysis identified 4 main categories related to the experience of families accompanying a senior to the emergency department: (1) process leading to the emergency department, families feel uncertainty and ambiguity with the decision to go to the emergency department; (2) staying in the emergency department, families' experiences are influenced by the triage, the ED environment, and the interactions with ED personnel; (3) discharge from the emergency department, families consider that they should be part of the discharge planning; and (4) recommendations and possible solutions, there is a paucity of recommendations specifically focused on families.

DISCUSSION

The experience of families of seniors in the emergency department is multifactorial and part of a trajectory of care and health services.

What are the needs of frail older patients in the emergency department? A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

There is an increase in the number of frail elderly patients presenting to the emergency department. Diagnosis and treatment for this patient group is challenging due to multimorbidity, a-typical presentation and polypharmacy and requires specialised knowledge and competencies from healthcare professionals. We aim to explore the needs and preferences regarding emergency care in frail older patients based on their experiences with received care during Emergency Department admission.

METHOD

A qualitative study design was used, and semi-structured interviews were conducted after discharge with twelve frail older patients admitted to emergency departments in the Netherlands. Data collection and analysis were performed iteratively, and data were thematically analysed.

RESULTS

The analysis enfolded the following themes; feeling disrupted, expecting to be cared for, suppressing their needs and wanting to be seen. These themes indicated a need for situational awareness by healthcare professionals when taking care of the participants and were influenced by the participants' life experiences.

CONCLUSION

Frail older patients feel disrupted when admitted to the emergency department. Because of this, they expect to be cared for, lessen their own needs and want to be seen as human beings. The impact of the admission is influenced by the extent to which healthcare professionals show situational awareness.

Emergency care for older people living with frailty: patient and carer perspectives

Background

Little is known about how frailty impacts on older people’s experiences of emergency care, despite patient experience being essential to providing person-centred care. This qualitative study reports on the experiences of older people with frailty in the ED and their and their carers’ preferences for emergency care.

Methods

Older people (aged 75+ years) who were at least mildly frail and/or their carers, with current or recent experience of emergency care, were recruited from three EDs in England between January and June 2019. Data were collected via semi-structured in-depth interviews which explored participants’ views on their recent experience of emergency care and their priorities and preferred outcomes. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed following the principles of the Framework approach.

Results

Forty participants were interviewed: 24 patients and 16 carers who, between them, described ED attendances for 28 patients across the three sites. Often informed by previous negative experiences, there was a strong desire to avoid conveyance to EDs, and a sense of helplessness or acquiescence to attend. Although staff attitudes were on the whole seen as positive, the ED experience was dominated by negative experiences relating to very basic issues such as a lack of help with eating, drinking, toileting and discomfort from long waits on hard trolleys. Participants reported that communication and involvement in decision making could be improved, including involving next of kin, who were viewed as critical to supporting vulnerable older people during sometimes very protracted waits.

Conclusion

Frailty reflects a vulnerability and a need for support in basic activities of daily living, which EDs in this study, and perhaps more widely, are not set up to provide. Changes at the levels of clinical practice and service design are required to deliver even the most basic care for older people with frailty in the ED environment.

The Prospective Association of Patient Hospitalization with Spouse Depressive Symptoms and Self-Reported Heath

After hospital discharge, patients experience a period of generalized risk for adverse mental and physical health outcomes (post-hospital syndrome [PHS]). Hospital stressors can explain these effects in patients (e.g., sleep disruption, deconditioning). Patients' partners also experience adverse outcomes following patient hospitalization, but mechanisms of these effects are unknown. The purpose of this study was to test whether greater times and nights of patient hospitalization (proxies for partner exposure to hospital stressors) are prospectively associated with greater increases in partner depression and in partner self-reported poor health. Participants were 7,490 married couples (11,208 individuals) enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study. Outcomes were prospective changes in depressive symptoms and self-reported poor health, and primary predictors were spouse hospitalization over the past two years (yes/no), spouse hospitalized ≥ two times (yes/no), and spouse spent ≥ eight nights in-hospital (yes/no). Covariates included age, gender, race, ethnicity, income, own hospitalization experiences during the past 12 months, and one's own and spouse comorbidities. Having a spouse who experienced two or more hospitalizations was associated with an increase in one's own depression over time, as was having a spouse who spent eight or more nights in-hospital. Spouse hospitalization was not associated with prospective changes in self-reported health. Results suggest that PHS mechanisms may account for adverse post-hospitalization outcomes in patients' partners.

Care Experiences of Older People in the Emergency Department: A Concurrent Mixed-Methods Study

The growing population of older people has increased demand to meet their complex healthcare needs, including in emergency departments (EDs). This study explored the experiences of people aged 65+ in Irish EDs, involving secondary analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from the 2019 National Inpatient Experience Survey (NIES). Experiences in the ED and overall hospital experiences were dichotomized as poor to fair or good to very good. Logistic regression was used to model quantitative data. Free text comments relating to EDs were thematically analyzed. Of 12,343 survey participants, 4,442 (39.9%) were aged 65+ years and used the ED. Longer waiting times, completion of the questionnaire by another person either with or on behalf of the patient, and having both a medical card and private health insurance were predictors of poor to fair ED experiences. Patients aged 85+ years were more likely to report good to very good ED experiences. Poor experiences in the ED were associated with poorer overall hospital experiences (odds ratio [OR]: 2.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.76 to 2.73, p < .001). Thematic analysis revealed that long waiting times and unpleasant waiting conditions, including lack of communication, privacy, and personal care were important challenges encountered in the ED, with some older patients noting their preference for separate ED services. There is a need to reduce waiting times and integrate user perspectives in the planning, organization, and delivery of ED care to improve experiences and quality of care for a growing older population.

Experiences and perspectives of older patients with a return visit to the emergency department within 30 days: patient journey mapping

Aim

To achieve patient-centered care for older patients at the emergency department (ED) it is important to include their perspective and experience, and this can be done through the patient journey method.

Findings

By mapping the patient journey, we found that waiting times and suboptimal discharge communication are almost always related to a negative experience for older patients.

Message

The novelty of this study lies within the qualitative patient journey method, which allowed us to include the voice of the patient in issues that have been previously described (i.e. waiting times and discharge communication). We believe this can guide towards patient-centered improvement initiatives that can contribute to a positive ED experience in the future, for example a time-out at the ED and a discharge check list

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41999-021-00581-6.

Purpose

Up to 22% of older patients who visit the emergency department (ED) have a return visit within 30 days. To achieve patient-centered care for this group at the ED it is important to involve the patient perspective and strive to provide the best possible experience. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the experiences and perspectives of older patients from initial to return ED visit by mapping their patient journey.

Methods

We performed a qualitative patient journey study with 13 patients of 70 years and older with a return ED visit within 30 days who presented at the Amsterdam UMC, a Dutch academic hospital. We used semi-structured interviews focusing on the patient experience during their journey and developed a conceptual framework for coding.

Results

Our sample consisted of 13 older patients with an average age of 80 years, and 62% of them were males. The framework contained a timeline of the patient journey with five chronological main themes, complemented with an ‘experience’ theme, these were divided into 34 subthemes. Health status, social system, contact with the general practitioner, aftercare, discharge and expectations were the five main themes. The experiences regarding these themes differed greatly between patients. The two most prominent subthemes were waiting time and discharge communication, which were mostly related to a negative experience.

Conclusions

This study provides insight into the experiences and perspectives of older patients from initial to return ED visit. The two major findings were that lack of clarity regarding waiting times and suboptimal discharge communication contributed to negative experiences. Recommendations regarding waiting time (i.e. a two-hour time out at the ED), and discharge communication (i.e. checklist for discharge) could contribute to a positive ED experience and thereby potentially improve patient-centered care.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41999-021-00581-6.

The role and contribution of family carers accompanying community-living older people with cognitive impairment to the emergency department: An interview study

BACKGROUND

Older people with cognitive impairment may have lack of understanding of their health and ability to co-ordinate care needs. Family carers play a key role in supporting older people but the role of family carers in emergency discharge has not been explored well.

OBJECTIVE

To explore and describe the role and contribution of family carers accompanying the older person with cognitive impairment to the emergency department.

DESIGN

A exploratory descriptive study was conducted in which telephone interviews were performed.

SETTING

Three emergency departments located in metropolitan Sydney, Australia; two major tertiary referral centres and one district hospital. The EQUATOR research checklist (COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research) (COREQ) was used to report the qualitative study.

SUBJECTS

Participants were family carers accompanying people aged ≥64 years with cognitive impairment; with non-urgent triage classifications; English speaking and eligible for discharge home. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted 2 to 4 weeks after the older person was discharged. Data were reflexively thematically analysed in NVIVO independently by three researchers.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight interviews were conducted. Three key themes were evident: (1) 'communicating knowledge of the older person's health status and usual behaviour'; (2) 'providing advocacy, translation, surrogacy and care co-ordination'; and (3) 'ensuring safe transition from the emergency department to home'.

CONCLUSIONS

Study findings detailed how family carers created an important safety net while the older person was in emergency, through advocacy and the communication of vital health information. More importantly, their knowledge influenced the healthcare management of the older person and ensured safe discharge and co-ordination of care in the community.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The study identified for older persons with cognitive impairment a safe stay in the ED and transition home from hospital was supported by family carers and assisted to ensure that discharge information was understood and adhered to optimise wellbeing and prevent adverse outcomes. The findings of this study can inform discharge processes for nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors. Additionally, processes to support family carer engagement would optimise older person compliance and better inform healthcare decision-making and choice for older peoples, family carers. The findings of the study should inform discharge processes to minimise risk of readmission, financial burden and harm.

Involvement un-enabled? An ethnographic study of the challenges and potentials of involving relatives in the acute ambulatory clinical pathway

Background

Involving a patient’s relatives is a complex endeavour, especially in emergency departments (EDs). Generally, relatives are recognized as vital partners in health care, but in-depth knowledge on how these family involvement processes take place in the everyday practices of EDs is sparse. The aim of this study is to explore the practice of involving relatives in the acute ambulatory clinical pathway in the ED, as seen from the perspectives of patients and relatives.

Methods

The study was conducted as ethnographic fieldwork in an ED at a Danish Regional Hospital. Two months of participant-observation were carried out focusing on 43 patients. Of these, 18 patients and/or relatives were selected for telephone interviews after 1 week, and of these 11 were selected for in-depth interviews 3 weeks later.

Results

Unpredictability is a basic condition of any ED. For the patients and relatives, who are unfamiliar with the routines in the ED, unpredictability translates to a sense of temporal and existential unpredictability, reinforced by a sense of not knowing when the examinations will be completed or if/when they will be sent home. Relatives’ involvement in the ED is affected by this sense of unpredictability and by the existing relations between patients and their relatives prior to entering the ED. The stay in the ED is only one ‘stop’ in the complete acute ambulatory clinical pathway but relatives’ involvement also concerns the time before and after the stay in the ED. Practices of involving relatives leave (some) relatives invisible in the clinical pathway. As a consequence, they are often not addressed, which un-enables their involvement.

Conclusion

Involvement of relatives presupposes recognizing the relatives as participants if they are to be involved in the patient’s clinical pathway in the ED. As a start, it is advisable that the medical staff ask the patients on arrival who has accompanied them in the ED, and if and in what way they want their companions involved in the ED. There is a need for a more integrated and contextualized understanding of relatives’ involvement, as it takes place along an extended acute ambulatory clinical pathway.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-020-05923-x.

Admission Decision-Making in Hospital Emergency Departments: The Role of the Accompanying Person

In resource-stretched emergency departments, people accompanying patients play key roles in patients’ care. This article presents analysis of the ways health professionals and accompanying persons talked about admission decisions and caring roles. The authors used an ethnographic case study design involving participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 13 patients, 17 accompanying persons and 26 health care professionals in four National Health Service hospitals in south-west England. Focused analysis of interactional data revealed that professionals’ standardization of the patient–carer relationship contrasted with accompanying persons’ varied connections with patients. Accompanying persons could directly or obliquely express willingness, ambivalence and resistance to supporting patients’ care. The drive to avoid admissions can lead health professionals to deploy conversational skills to enlist accompanying persons for discharge care without exploring the meanings of their particular relationship with the patients. Taking a relationship-centered approach could improve the attention to accompanying persons as co-producers of health care and participants in decision-making.

The dementia-friendly emergency department: An innovation to reducing incompatibilities at the local level

Emergency Departments (EDs) are an integral part of the Canadian healthcare system. Older people living with dementia challenge EDs. They have complex health profiles that pose multiple challenges for staff. The current one-size-fits-all approach that aids efficiency in a technologically dependent hospital setting may not always serve older people living with dementia, their caregivers, or staff well. The premise that older people living with dementia are a problem for Canadian EDs must be reconsidered. Understanding the complexity of the situation is aided by the dementia-friendly ED framework. We propose one way to enhance communication between those living with dementia who receive ED services and those providing the service.

Factors associated with patients' and companions' satisfaction with a hospital emergency department: A descriptive, cross-sectional study

AIM

The aim was to study the level of satisfaction with an emergency department and to identify the factors associated with satisfaction.

DESIGN

This research consisted of a descriptive, cross-sectional study.

METHODS

The study population was composed of patients and companions who visited the emergency department during a three-month period. The patients were selected randomly from the register of visits to the emergency department during the period of study. Sociodemographic variables and variables related to the attention received were studied through questionnaires (response rate 33%).

RESULTS

Older age was associated with greater satisfaction (p = 0.002), as was female sex (p = 0.013) and greater optimism (p < 0.001). Greater control of pain was a factor associated with satisfaction (p = 0.033), as was the perception of a shorter waiting time before the medical visit (p < 0.001).

Experiences of an Emergency Department Visit Among Older Adults and Their Families: Qualitative Findings From a Mixed-Methods Study

Background

Emergency department (ED) visits are critical events for older adults, but little is known regarding their experiences, particularly about their physical needs, the involvement of accompanying family members, and the transition back to the community.

Objective

To explore experiences of an ED visit among patients aged 75 and older.

Methods

In a mixed-methods study, a cohort of patients aged 75 and older (or a family member) discharged from the ED back to the community was recruited from 4 urban EDs. A week following discharge, structured telephone interviews supplemented with open-ended questions were conducted. A subsample (76 patients, 32 family members) was purposefully selected. Verbatim transcripts of responses to the open-ended questions were thematically analyzed.

Results

Experiences related to physical needs included comfort, equipment supporting mobility and autonomy, help when needed, and access to drink and food. Family members required opportunities to provide patient support and greater involvement in their care. At discharge, patients/families required adequate discharge education, resolution of their health problem, information on medications, and greater certainty about planned follow-up medical and home care services.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest several areas that could be targeted to improve patient and family perceptions of the care at an ED visit.

At Risk for Emotional Harm in the Emergency Department: Older Adult Patients' and Caregivers' Experiences, Strategies, and Recommendations

Background: Emergency departments (ED) serve a critical role in addressing the health care needs of older adults, although organizational and provider characteristics can result in unintended negative outcomes for this population, such as emotional harm. This study aimed to describe the patient experience of older adults in the ED and generate recommendations for enhancing their experience. Methods: Data from focus groups and individual interviews of older adults and caregivers who had visited the ED were thematically analyzed. Results: Ten focus groups and individual interviews of 41 older adults and 15 caregivers were conducted. Health system and provider factors affecting the patient experience were identified. Participants negotiated their experience using diverse strategies. Recommendations for improving the ED experience were generated. Conclusions: Older adults attending the ED are at risk for health care-related emotional harm unrelated to their entrance complaint, which could be mitigated by addressing organizational and attitudinal factors.

A Scoping Literature Review of Dementia-Friendly Hospital Design

Purpose

We report the findings of a knowledge synthesis research project on the topic of dementia-friendly acute care (D-FAC) design. This exploratory project systematically mapped what is known about D-FAC physical design in hospitals. We discuss our challenges in locating reportable evidence and the implications of such design for maximizing independent function while ensuring safety and harm reduction in older people living with dementia.

Design and Methods

Exploratory iterative design utilizing scoping literature review methodology.

Results

A total of 28 primary studies plus expert reviewers' narratives on the impact of design and architectural features on independent function of hospitalized older people with dementia were included and evaluated. Items were mapped to key design elements to describe a D-FAC environment. This scoping review project confirms the limited nature of available acute care design evidence on maximizing function.

Implications

Physical design influences the usability and activity undertaken in a health care space and ultimately affects patient outcomes. Achieving safe quality hospital care for older people living with dementia is particularly challenging. Evidence of design principle effectiveness is needed that can be applied to general medical and surgical units where the bulk of older persons with and without dementia are treated.

Characterization, conservation and loss of dignity at the end-of- life in the emergency department. A qualitative protocol

AIMS

To explore and understand the experiences of terminally ill patients and their relatives regarding dignity during end-of-life care in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND

The respect given to the concept of dignity is significantly modifying the clinical relationship and the care framework involving the end-of-life patient in palliative care units, critical care units, hospices and their own homes. This situation is applicable to in-hospital emergency departments, where there is a lack of research which takes the experiences of end-of-life patients and their relatives into account.

DESIGN

A phenomenological qualitative study.

METHODS

The protocol was approved in December 2016 and will be carried out from December 2016-December 2020. The Gadamer's philosophical underpinnings will be used in the design and development of the study. The data collection will include participant observation techniques in the emergency department, in-depth interviews with terminally ill patients and focus groups with their relatives. For the data analysis, the field notes and verbatim transcriptions will be read and codified using ATLAS.ti software to search for emerging themes.

DISCUSSION

Emerging themes that contribute to comprehending the phenomenon of dignity in end-of-life care in the emergency department are expected to be found. This study's results could have important implications in the implementation of new interventions in emergency departments. These interventions would be focused on improving: the social acceptance of death, environmental conditions, promotion of autonomy and accompaniment and assumption (takeover) of dignified actions and attitudes (respect for human rights).

Few opportunities to influence decisions regarding the care and treatment of an older hospitalized family member: a qualitative study among family members

BACKGROUND

The drive towards patient involvement in health services has been increasingly promoted. The World Health Organisation emphasizes the family's perspective in comprehensive care. Internationally there is an increased emphasis on what patients and their family tell about the hospital experiences. However, current literature does not adequately address the question of participation experiences among relatives of older hospitalized family members. There is a paucity of research with a generational perspective on relatives' opportunities to exert influence. The aim of the study was to explore relatives' experiences of opportunities to participate in decisions about the care and treatment of older hospitalized family members and whether there are different experiences of influence to the relatives' age.

METHODS

This was an explorative study applying individual qualitative interviews. The interviews were analysed following hermeneutic methodological principles. Two Norwegian geriatric wards participated: one at a university hospital and one at a local hospital. Twelve participants, six women and six men, were purposively selected. The relatives were aged from 36 to 88 (mean age 62) and were spouses, children and/or children-in-law of patients.

RESULTS

The relatives' experienced opportunities to exert influence were distributed along a continuum ranging from older relatives being reactive waiting for an initiative from health professionals, to younger adults being proactive securing influence. Older "invisible" carers appeared to go unnoticed by the health professionals, establishing few opportunities to influence decisions. The middle-aged relatives also experienced limited influence, but participated when the hospital needed it. However, limited participation seemed to have less impact on their lives than in the older relatives. Middle-aged relatives and younger adults identified strategies in which visibility was the key to increasing the odds of gaining participation. The exceptional case seemed to be some older carers' experiences of influencing decisions with the help of professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that experiences of influence were limited regardless of age. However, the results indicated that participation among relatives decrease with age while vulnerability for not having influence seemed to increase with age. The problem of patient choice most clearly manifested among the older carers, which might indicate that the relatives' age sets terms for opportunities to participate.

Counseling patients and family members in out-of-hospital emergency situations: a survey for emergency staff

Background

Not much is known about emergency care delivered in patients’ homes or other out-of-hospital settings. This study aims to describe out-of-hospital emergency staff’s experiences of encountering and counseling patients and their family members.

Methods

A descriptive cross-sectional design was applied. Data were collected from a hospital district in Finland from emergency care staff via an electronic survey questionnaire specifically developed for this purpose (N = 125, N = 142 reponse rate 59%, response rate 53%) and analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results

Respondents succeeded in encountering (up to 3.88/4) and counseling (up to 3.89/4) patients and family members. Challenges were related to introducing themselves to family members (3.20/4), to interacting with patients from different cultures (3.38/4) and to allowing family members to be present in care situations (2.29/4). Providing emotional support (2.56/4), especially to family members, and confirming (3.16/4) and ensuring continuity of care instructions (3.00/4) were found to be challenging.

Conclusions

High-level counseling in acute out-of-hospital situations demands that care providers can put themselves into the patient’s and family’s situation, ensure follow-up care and provide care instructions to both patients and families. The presence and participation of family members is essential in acute care situations outside hospital contexts. Ensuring that these contents are included and practiced during basic and continuing emergency care education for nurses and other emergency staff is crucial for developing counseling practices.

Patterns of behaviour in families of critically ill patients in the emergency room: a focused ethnography

AIM

The aim of this study was to understand the patterns of behaviour from relatives of critically ill patients admitted to the emergency room.

BACKGROUND

Admission of a critically ill family member to an accident and emergency department is often a sudden and unexpected experience for the family. This stressful event often creates feelings of instability and intense suffering in relatives. Understanding the experiences of these families is essential for the provision of comprehensive health care in the emergency room.

DESIGN

A focused ethnography design was applied to the study.

METHODS

Peripheral participant observation and informal conversations were conducted in an emergency room in southern Brazil during January 2015. Analysis of data was based on Leininger.

FINDINGS

Suffering was recurrent among family members of critically ill patients admitted to the emergency room. The environment, which was conditioned by the patient's life-threatening situation and professionals' attitudes, resulted in relatives experiencing a range of feelings from suffering to calm. A distant approach and poor communication of professionals made relatives confused and silent. Factors that seemed to foster feelings of calm in families were the establishment of a continuous and close communication with professionals and the possibility to remain with the patient outside the established visiting hours.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study challenge emergency department providers and managers to promote comprehensive care in the emergency room by inviting family members to be with the patient and by engaging in family-centred care.

Patient Safety Walkaround: a communication tool for the reallocation of health service resources: An Italian experience of safety healthcare implementation

The study aims to evaluate the use of Patient Safety Walkaround (SWR) execution model in an Italian Hospital, through the adoption of parametric indices, survey tools, and process indicators.In the 1st meeting an interview was conducted to verify the knowledge of concepts of clinical risk management (process indicators). One month after, the questions provided by Frankel (survey tool) were administered.Each month after, an SWR has been carried trying to assist the healthcare professionals and collecting suggestions and solutions.Results have been classified according to Vincent model and analyzed to define an action plan. The amount of risk was quantified by the risk priority index (RPI).An organizational deficit concerns the management of the operating theatre.A state of intolerance was noticed of queuing patients for outpatient visits. The lack of scheduling of the operating rooms is often the cause of sudden displacements. A consequence is the conflict between patients and caregivers. Other causes of the increase of waiting times are the presence in the ward of a single trolley for medications and the presence of a single room for admission and preadmission of patients.Patients victims of allergic reactions have attributed such reactions to the presence of other patients in the process of acceptance and collection of medical history.All health professionals have reported the problem of n high number of relatives of the patients in the wards.Our study indicated the consistency of SWR as instrument to improve the quality of the care.

Family involvement in emergency department discharge education for older people

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To report findings concerning family involvement in emergency department discharge education for older people.

BACKGROUND

The current trend of population ageing in Western countries has caused an increase in emergency department visits. Due to the continuing improvement in the mental and physical status of older people, they are frequently discharged home. Proper discharge education enables older people and their families to better understand how they can cope with the medical issue at home. Given the lack of research, we know relatively little about the significance of family involvement in older people's emergency department discharge education.

DESIGN

A descriptive qualitative design was used.

METHODS

Qualitative thematic interviews of seven older patients, five family members and fifteen nurses were conducted. Data were analysed using content analysis.

RESULTS

Family involvement in discharge education was seen as turbulent. The experiences were twofold: family involvement was acknowledged, but there was also a feeling that family members were ostracised. Families were seen as a resource for nurses, but as obliged initiators of their own involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that family members are not considered participants in emergency department care. For a family-friendly approach, actions should be taken on both individual and organisational levels.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The findings support healthcare providers and organisation leaders in promoting family involvement in discharge education for older people. Families can be encouraged to be involved without feeling responsible for the interaction.

Defining dignity in end-of-life care in the emergency department

Background:

Respecting dignity is having a profound effect on the clinical relationship and the care framework for terminally ill patients in palliative care units, hospices and their own homes, with particular consequences for the emergency department. However, dignity is a vague and multifaceted concept that is difficult to measure.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to define the attributes of dignity in end-of-life care in the emergency department, based on the opinions of physicians and nurses.

Research design:

A hermeneutic phenomenological approach utilising Gadamer's philosophical underpinnings guided the study.

Participants and research context:

This research was conducted in Spain in 2013–2014. Participants included 10 physicians and 16 nurses with experience working in the emergency department. Two focus groups and 12 in-depth interviews were carried out.

Ethical considerations:

The study was approved by the Research Centre Ethical Committee (Andalusian Health Service, Spain).

Findings:

The results point to the person's inherent value, socio-environmental conditions and conscious actions/attitudes as attributes of dignity when caring for a dying patient in the emergency department.

Discussion:

Dying with dignity is a basic objective in end-of-life care and is an ambiguous but relevant concept for physicians and nurses. In line with our theoretical framework, our results highlight care environment, professional actions and socio-family context as attributes of dignity.

Conclusion:

Quality care in the emergency department includes paying attention to the dignity of people in the process of death. The dignity in the care of a dying person in the emergency department is defined by acknowledging the inherent value in each person, socio-environmental conditions and social and individual acceptance of death. Addressing these questions has significant repercussions for health professionals, especially nurses.

Presença da família durante o atendimento emergencial: percepção do paciente vítima de trauma

Objetivo: aprehender cómo pacientes víctimas de trauma perciben la presencia de la familia durante la atención de emergencia. Métodos: estudio descriptivo, de naturaleza cualitativa, realizado con 29 pacientes asistidos en una unidad de urgencias en el sur de Brasil. Los datos, recolectados en octubre de 2013, por medio de entrevista abierta, se sometieron a análisis de contenido, modalidad temática. Resultados: los pacientes víctimas de trauma percibían como positiva la presencia de la familia durante la atención de emergencia y la deseaban; creían que a sus familiares también les gustaría estar presentes. La motivación principal para desear la presencia de la familia en urgencias era la posibilidad de que esta proporcionara confianza y comodidad al paciente y, al mismo tiempo, tranquilizar a los familiares en la medida en que pueden obtener más informaciones acerca de la evolución del estado clínico y acompañar la atención. Conclusión: profesionales del área de salud que actúan en urgencias deben considerar la posibilidad de integrar la familia al espacio de cuidado a las víctimas de trauma, ya que los pacientes consideraron esta práctica beneficiosa para ellos y sus familiares.

Who Am I to Decide Whether This Person Is to Die Today? Physicians' Life-or-Death Decisions for Elderly Critically Ill Patients at the Emergency Department-ICU Interface: A Qualitative Study

STUDY OBJECTIVE

We explored physicians' perceptions of and attitudes toward triage and end-of-life decisions for elderly critically ill patients at the emergency department (ED)-ICU interface.

METHODS

This was a qualitative study with thematic analysis of data collected through semistructured interviews (15 emergency physicians and 9 ICU physicians) and nonparticipant observations (324 hours, 8 units, in 2 hospitals in France).

RESULTS

Six themes emerged: (1) Physicians revealed a representation of elderly patients that comprised both negative and positive stereotypes, and expressed the concept of physiologic age. (2) These age-related factors influenced physicians' decisionmaking in resuscitate/not resuscitate situations. (3) Three main communication patterns framed the decisions: interdisciplinary decisions, decisions by 2 physicians on their own, and unilateral decisions by 1 physician; however, some physicians avoided decisions, facing uncertainty and conflicts. (4) Conflicts and communication gaps occurred at the ED-ICU interface and upstream of the ED-ICU interface. (5) End-of-life decisions were perceived as more complex in the ED, in the absence of family or of information about elderly patients' end-of-life preferences, and when there was conflict with relatives, time pressure, and a lack of training in end-of-life decisionmaking. (6) During decisionmaking, patients' safety and quality of care were potentially compromised by delayed or denied intensive care and lack of palliative care.

CONCLUSION

These qualitative findings highlight the cognitive heuristics and biases, interphysician conflicts, and communication gaps influencing physicians' triage and end-of-life decisions for elderly critically ill patients at the ED-ICU interface and suggest strategies to improve these decisions.

Patients' strategies to deal with their situation at an emergency department

INTRODUCTION

The care in the emergency department (ED) is often characterised by high standards of efficiency and rapid treatment and the encounter between patient and staff can be described as both short and fragmented. Research within this field has mostly been performed with quantitative measurements and patients are both satisfied and vulnerable in their care at an ED. There is a lack of qualitative studies about patient's strategies to deal with their situation.

AIM

The aim was to describe patient's strategies for dealing with their situation at an ED.

METHODS

Secondary analysis has been made of 13 qualitative interviews grounded in a lifeworld perspective. The interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

The results showed that patients' strategies to deal with the situation at the ED are passive or active. The passive strategy is being patient and the active strategies varied in terms of having hidden tactics, using visible tactics and using families as support.

CONCLUSION

These findings increase the importance of gaining knowledge about these strategies so that the staff at the ED can support the patients so they do not have to use them.

Emergency department nurses' perceptions and experiences of providing care for older people

Emergency department nurses are challenged to provide safe, quality care to older people; however, nurses' perceptions of their role and experiences are seldom investigated. This focus-group study investigated emergency department nurses' perceptions and experiences of caring for older people, using four focus groups of nurses with a minimum three months' experience in the emergency department and a demographic survey. Data were thematically analyzed. Two themes emerged. The first was the clash of expectations between nurses and family/carers related to safety and quality of nursing care. Older people were perceived to be vulnerable in the emergency department, and nurses were frustrated that competing priorities decreased their ability to ensure them safe and quality care. Nurses felt family/carers were disappointed with care provided, and might not empathize with or understand their predicament. The second theme concerned nurses' perception that family/carers could provide a safety net for the older person in the emergency department in times of high workload. Nurses need support to care for older people in the emergency department to ensure safe and optimal care, and a shared understanding of care provision between nurses and family needs development.

WITHDRAWN: Positive experience of family members in emergency departments: A commentary

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