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Parental satisfaction with waiting time in a Swiss tertiary paediatric emergency department
Viola Löflath1,2,3, Eva-Maria Hau2,4,5, Daniel Garcia2
1Department of Pediatrics, Klinikum Dritter Orden, Munich, Germany viola.loeflath@googlemail.com.
Insights
Parental satisfaction in paediatric emergency departments (PEDs) increases with shorter wait times for triage, physician contact, and discharge. Implementing entertainment and timely care improves patient experience.
Area of Science:
- Emergency Medicine
- Paediatric Healthcare
- Patient Satisfaction Studies
Background:
- Increasing patient volumes in paediatric emergency departments (PEDs) necessitate understanding parental experiences.
- Previous studies explored parental perceptions of waiting times in PEDs across several countries.
- This study specifically examines factors influencing parental satisfaction with waiting times in a Swiss tertiary PED.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors influencing parental satisfaction with waiting times in a Swiss tertiary paediatric emergency department.
- To compare these factors with those identified in international studies.
- To provide evidence-based recommendations for improving patient experience in PEDs.
Main Methods:
- A survey was administered to parents of children presenting to an interdisciplinary PED.
- Data collected included parental satisfaction with waiting time and treatment, reasons for non-emergency visits, and perceived waiting times.
- Statistical analysis was performed to correlate satisfaction levels with various factors.
Main Results:
- Higher satisfaction with waiting time was associated with shorter waits for triage, physician contact, and discharge.
- Increased urgency of triage category and availability of entertainment positively impacted satisfaction.
- Early physician contact and discharge within 4 hours correlated with greater treatment satisfaction.
Conclusions:
- Shorter waiting times for critical care milestones significantly enhance parental satisfaction.
- Implementing entertainment and optimizing the speed of medical review and discharge are key strategies.
- Addressing parental perceptions and ensuring timely care are crucial for improving the PED experience.
Introduction:
Patient numbers in paediatric emergency departments (PED) are steadily increasing. Parental perception of waiting time and reasons for attending a PED with non-emergencies have been investigated in the UK, Australia, Korea, Canada and the USA. We sought to examine which factors influence parental satisfaction with waiting time in a tertiary Swiss PED and whether these differed from other countries.
Methods:
Paper surveys were administered to parents of children presenting to our interdisciplinary PED from February to May 2015. Primary outcome was parental satisfaction with waiting time, secondary outcomes were satisfaction with treatment, parental reasons for presentation with non-emergencies, parental perception of times to triage, first physician contact and disposition from ED, level of physician training, understanding of various anticrowding strategies and comparison of perceived and true waiting times to triage and physician contact.
Results:
739 out of 750 surveys were returned (57 complete, 298 with 1 or 2 missing answers). Satisfaction with waiting time (on a 5-point-Likert-scale; 1 being the best possible answer) was higher in groups with shorter waiting time until triage (+0.41, p=0.001), first physician contact (+1.43, p<0.001) and discharge (+0.71, p<0.001), higher triage category urgency (+0.47, p=0.044) and available entertainment (+0.82, p<0.001). Early first physician contact (+0.33, p=0.008) and time to discharge less than 4 hours (+0.37, p<0.001) was associated with greater satisfaction with treatment (p<0.05). The most frequent reasons for presentation were parental impression that the child had an emergency (n=265, 35.9%) and referral by the family doctor (n=245, 33.2%).
Conclusion:
To counteract parental dissatisfaction associated with waiting time, we suggest the implementation of feasible measures including entertainment while waiting, early first medical review and timely discharge from the PED.
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