Emergency Department Communication Officer: response to consumer demand

To determine whether the employment of a Communication Officer (CO) in the ED waiting room improves ED consumer satisfaction with regard to information exchange and general care received in the waiting room.

Multifactorial analytic cross sectional survey on convenience samples of ED consumers. Consumers were eligible if they had been in the waiting room for more than 30 min. Comparisons in responses using ordinal regression analysis were made between shifts on which there was no intervention present, where the CO, an educational video or both were present.

When the CO was present the responses to seven of 10 questions regarding information exchange and general care were significantly improved (all P < 0.01) and three were not. When only the video was running, the responses to none of the 10 questions were significantly improved. The concurrent presence of the video neither enhanced nor detracted from the responses regarding the CO when both were present. Responses to all five questions regarding the CO were positive, and responses to two of three questions regarding the value of the video were positive.

The presence of a designated CO in the ED waiting room enhances the communication with, and perceptions of general care by ED consumers.