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Anxiety as a factor influencing satisfaction with emergency department care: perspectives of accompanying persons.

Kristensson Ekwall, Anna LU ; Gerdtz, Marie and Manias, Elizabeth (2009) In Journal of Clinical Nursing 18. p.3489-3497
Abstract
Aim. To measure levels of anxiety among people accompanying consumers to the emergency department and to explore how anxiety influences satisfaction with care. Background. When people seek treatment in an emergency department they are often accompanied by a next-of-kin, family member or friend. While the accompanying person plays a vital role in providing psycho-social support to consumers, little is known about how they perceive the quality of care. Learning more about how accompanying persons perceive care may inform the development of strategies to enhance communication processes between staff, consumers and accompanying persons. Design. A prospective cross-sectional survey design. Methods. Data were collected from a consecutive sample... (More)
Aim. To measure levels of anxiety among people accompanying consumers to the emergency department and to explore how anxiety influences satisfaction with care. Background. When people seek treatment in an emergency department they are often accompanied by a next-of-kin, family member or friend. While the accompanying person plays a vital role in providing psycho-social support to consumers, little is known about how they perceive the quality of care. Learning more about how accompanying persons perceive care may inform the development of strategies to enhance communication processes between staff, consumers and accompanying persons. Design. A prospective cross-sectional survey design. Methods. Data were collected from a consecutive sample of accompanying persons at one Australian metropolitan teaching hospital. Of all eligible individuals approached, 128/153 (83.7%) returned completed questionnaires. The questionnaire comprised a series of open- and close-ended questions about perceptions of medical need, urgency and satisfaction with the overall visit. Anxiety was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A). Results. There was a significant association between the accompanying person's levels of anxiety and satisfaction at point of discharge. In the satisfied group, mean VAS-A scores were 17.4 (SD 17.5) compared to 42.9 (SD 26.6) in the not satisfied group (p = 0.011). Moreover, those participants who were not satisfied with the visit did not show a significant reduction in VAS-A scores from triage to point of discharge. Conclusion. The lower the level of anxiety reported by accompanying persons when leaving the emergency department, the more satisfied they are likely to be with their emergency department visit. Ultimately, well informed and confident accompanying persons are beneficial for ensuring quality patient support. Relevance to clinical practice. Asking accompanying persons about their anxiety level before discharge gives them the opportunity to pose clarifying questions and is, therefore, an effective way of improving their satisfaction with the emergency department visit. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Clinical Nursing
volume
18
pages
3489 - 3497
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000271638000013
  • pmid:19747200
  • scopus:70449556449
  • pmid:19747200
ISSN
1365-2702
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.02873.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Caring Sciences (Closed 2012) (016514020)
id
c41195f5-8758-4b04-8f26-522bda12f024 (old id 1483570)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19747200?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:37:13
date last changed
2022-01-29 18:43:22
@article{c41195f5-8758-4b04-8f26-522bda12f024,
  abstract     = {{Aim. To measure levels of anxiety among people accompanying consumers to the emergency department and to explore how anxiety influences satisfaction with care. Background. When people seek treatment in an emergency department they are often accompanied by a next-of-kin, family member or friend. While the accompanying person plays a vital role in providing psycho-social support to consumers, little is known about how they perceive the quality of care. Learning more about how accompanying persons perceive care may inform the development of strategies to enhance communication processes between staff, consumers and accompanying persons. Design. A prospective cross-sectional survey design. Methods. Data were collected from a consecutive sample of accompanying persons at one Australian metropolitan teaching hospital. Of all eligible individuals approached, 128/153 (83.7%) returned completed questionnaires. The questionnaire comprised a series of open- and close-ended questions about perceptions of medical need, urgency and satisfaction with the overall visit. Anxiety was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A). Results. There was a significant association between the accompanying person's levels of anxiety and satisfaction at point of discharge. In the satisfied group, mean VAS-A scores were 17.4 (SD 17.5) compared to 42.9 (SD 26.6) in the not satisfied group (p = 0.011). Moreover, those participants who were not satisfied with the visit did not show a significant reduction in VAS-A scores from triage to point of discharge. Conclusion. The lower the level of anxiety reported by accompanying persons when leaving the emergency department, the more satisfied they are likely to be with their emergency department visit. Ultimately, well informed and confident accompanying persons are beneficial for ensuring quality patient support. Relevance to clinical practice. Asking accompanying persons about their anxiety level before discharge gives them the opportunity to pose clarifying questions and is, therefore, an effective way of improving their satisfaction with the emergency department visit.}},
  author       = {{Kristensson Ekwall, Anna and Gerdtz, Marie and Manias, Elizabeth}},
  issn         = {{1365-2702}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{3489--3497}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Clinical Nursing}},
  title        = {{Anxiety as a factor influencing satisfaction with emergency department care: perspectives of accompanying persons.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.02873.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.02873.x}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}