Emergency Department
Patients’ overflowing in emergency department has become a daily challenge to providing high quality care in emergency department in hospitals. Although, the studies shows that congestions results in poor outcomes, it is possible that other factors such as nursing care contribute to these adverse effects. This phenomenon is becoming a widespread situation all over the world. A common problem for the health care system in the service delivery in hospitals in any country, since nursing care accords balance of contrary forces in patients’ outcomes in other setting.
Overflow in Emergency Department has led to delay in treatment to patients who truly needs the emergency service care. (M.J. Schull, 2007) Poor service delivery in emergency department, due to heavy workload to nurses is being experienced almost every day. When emergency department is overcrowded there may be poor nurse-patient communication. The quality of service being rendered to patients may not be the best, due to fatigue and so poor performance in emergency department. Poor physical health of nurses is also being seen due to heavy emergency department work load in. (Bae, 2014 ) The impact of overflow is often seen in poor health and low resistance to nurses in whatever flu is going around in hospital. Getting stuck with too much patients to handle leaves little time for exercise, medication, relaxation or cooking nutritious meals, this self-neglect affect the body. The correlation between health decline and heavy workload has been established in scientific studies. Nurses’ morale and loyalty to the organization becomes low, lacking solution to crushing workload, overburden them may look for another job even if it requires a pay cut.
Over utilization of emergency department resources, which have led to added stress on hospital facilities, thereby lowering the quality of care for those with true medical emergencies. Use of the Emergencies department for non-urgent conditions may cause excessive health care spending unnecessary testing and treatment and weaker patient-primary care provider relationship. Excessive costs incurred in Emergency Department has cost inefficient cost vastly more than its alternative experts. (Schubert, 24 April 2008 ). Estimates that the costs of an emergency department visit for a non-urgent condition is two to five times greater than the cost of receiving care in primary care setting for the same condition. This may trigger an overload of hospitals resources making it harder for those with urgent conditions to receive the care they require.
Prolonged hospitalization of patients which leads to high cost of treatment to patients in Emergency Department. (P Krochmal, 1994)Lengthen stay in emergency department increase the likelihood of hospital acquired contagious infections in older patients and disrupts patients flow and access to care due to shortage of beds. This communicable diseases calls for treatment also, which increases hospital bill for patient. This becomes a vulnerable state for patients in terms of monetary value.
To summarize on the above essay, Emergency department crowding affects individual patients, health care systems and communities at large. The negative influences of crowding on health service delivery results in delayed service delivery, poor quality care and inefficiency, all negative affecting the emergency patients health care outcome, in turn. This implicates the significance of reciprocating to catastrophe and emergency-related overflowing and preventing the outcome for better addressing, the health care needs of emergency patients and increase the productiveness of healthcare service delivery centers.