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Parent satisfaction with services in an emergency department located at a paediatric teaching hospital
Insights
Parents using pediatric emergency departments are generally satisfied, but longer wait times and communication issues impact satisfaction. Addressing these can improve pediatric patient care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Patient Satisfaction Studies
- Healthcare Service Evaluation
Background:
- Emergency departments (EDs) in pediatric hospitals provide critical care for children.
- Evaluating parental satisfaction is crucial for assessing ED service quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess parental satisfaction with services in a pediatric hospital's emergency department.
Main Methods:
- A descriptive study utilizing questionnaires completed by parents of children with non-life-threatening illnesses.
- Data collected on satisfaction with various emergency department services.
Main Results:
- Most parents reported satisfaction with ED services.
- Lower satisfaction correlated with significantly longer waiting times.
- Less satisfied parents cited inadequate staff attention, insufficient staffing, and poor discharge communication.
Conclusions:
- Improving pediatric EDs requires focusing on reducing wait times and ensuring adequate staffing.
- Enhancing staff-parent communication is vital for better post-discharge care.
- Addressing these factors can elevate the overall patient experience and care outcomes.
Objective:
To evaluate parents' satisfaction with the services provided in an emergency department located at a paediatric hospital.
Methodology:
A descriptive study in which the parents of children with non-life-threatening illnesses attending an emergency department completed a questionnaire describing their satisfaction with services in the department.
Results:
The majority of parents were satisfied with the services provided. However, less satisfied parents reported having to wait significantly longer before receiving medical attention than satisfied parents. Consistent with this finding, 77% of less satisfied parents reported that staff did not attend to their children's needs quickly enough and 62% felt that there were insufficient staff available to provide help. Twenty-nine per cent of the less satisfied parents reported that they did not know what was required for the ongoing care of their children after their discharge from the emergency department.
Conclusions:
In order to address the concerns of less satisfied parents, emergency departments need to give careful attention to the maintenance of reasonable waiting times, the provision of adequate staffing, and the quality of staff-parent communication. Addressing these issues may improve the ongoing care of children after their discharge from emergency departments.