Emergency Medicine Commons^™

Emergency Department Length Of Stay: Accuracy Of Patient Estimates, Brendan T. Parker, Catherine A. Marco

Emergency Medicine Faculty Publications

Introduction

Managing a patient’s expectations in the emergency department (ED) environment is challenging. Previous studies have identified several factors associated with ED patient satisfaction. Lengthy wait times have shown to be associated with dissatisfaction with ED care. Understanding that patients are inaccurate at their estimation of wait time, which could lead to lower satisfaction, provides administrators possible points of intervention to help improve accuracy of estimation and possibly satisfaction with the ED. This study was undertaken to examine the accuracy of patient estimates of time periods in an ED and identify factors associated with accuracy.

Method

In this prospective convenience …

Pain Scores Among Ed Patients: Correlation With Desire For Pain Medication, Catherine A. Marco, Megan Mcgervey, Joan Gekonde, Caitlin Martin

Emergency Medicine Faculty Publications

Introduction: Pain has been identified as the most common reason for Emergency Department (ED) visits. The verbal numeric rating pain scale (VNRS) is commonly used to assess pain in the ED. This study was undertaken to determine whether VNRS pain scores correlate with desire for pain medication among ED patients.

Methods: In this prospective survey study, eligible patients included Emergency Department patients over 18 with painful conditions. The primary outcome measures included self-reported VNRS, ED diagnosis, number of ED visits and number of ED admissions within the past year, and the self-reported desire for pain medication.

Results: Among 482 participants …