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"Unless you went in with your head under your arm": Patient perceptions of emergency room visits

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  • Wellstood, Katie
  • Wilson, Kathi
  • Eyles, John

Abstract

There is increasing concern in Canada regarding growing pressures on emergency room care. Frequent media reports call attention to overcrowding, lengthy waiting times and the re-routing of ambulances due to the closure of emergency rooms during periods of overcrowding. Much of this information, however, is anecdotal. As such, little is known about patients' experiences in emergency rooms in Canada. The purpose of this study is to explore patients' perceptions of their most recent emergency room visit. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 41 men and women from two socially distinct neighbourhoods in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Much of the previous work on experiences in emergency room care is international in scope and uses quantitative methods to examine patient satisfaction with emergency care. This study considers patient experiences more broadly and looks beyond satisfaction to examine reasons for seeking emergency room care and the factors that shape experiences. The findings show that most patients describe their experiences in negative terms. The aspects of emergency room care that were most often linked with negative experiences were waiting times, patient perceptions of the quality of care received and staff-patient interactions. The findings are discussed in the context of recent health care reforms in Canada, which we argue have not addressed adequately the 'crisis' in emergency rooms.

Suggested Citation

  • Wellstood, Katie & Wilson, Kathi & Eyles, John, 2005. ""Unless you went in with your head under your arm": Patient perceptions of emergency room visits," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(11), pages 2363-2373, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:11:p:2363-2373
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cohen, G., 1996. "Age and health status in a patient satisfaction survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 42(7), pages 1085-1093, April.
    2. Béland, François & Lemay, Anne & Boucher, Marcel, 1998. "Patterns of visits to hospital-based emergency rooms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 165-179, July.
    3. Becker, G. & Newsom, E., 2003. "Socioeconomic Status and Dissatisfaction with Health Care among Chronically Ill African Americans," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(5), pages 742-748.
    4. Avis, Mark & Bond, Meg & Arthur, Antony, 1997. "Questioning patient satisfaction: An empirical investigation in two outpatient clinics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 85-92, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Qin, Hong & Prybutok, Victor R., 2013. "A quantitative model for patient behavioral decisions in the urgent care industry," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 50-64.
    2. Julia Eriksson & Linda Gellerstedt & Pernilla Hillerås & Åsa G Craftman, 2018. "Registered nurses’ perceptions of safe care in overcrowded emergency departments," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5-6), pages 1061-1067, March.

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