Search

Introduction: It is well known that emergency departments (EDs) suffer from crowding and throughput challenges, which make the ED a challenging workplace. However, the interplay between the throughput of patients and how staff experience work is seldom studied. The aim of this study was to investigate whether staff experience of work (efficiency, work-related efforts and rewards, and quantity and quality of work) differs between days with low and high patient throughput rates., Method: Throughput times were collected from electronic medical records and staff (n=252 individuals, mainly nurses) ratings in daily questionnaires over a total of six weeks. Days were grouped into low and high throughput rate days for the orthopedic, surgical and internal medicine sections, respectively, and staff ratings were compared., Results: On days with low throughput rates, employees rated their efficiency, effort, reward and quantity of work significantly higher than on days with high throughput rates. There was no difference in perceived quality of work., Conclusions: There is a complex relationship between ED throughput rates and staff perceptions of efficiency and efforts/rewards with work, suggesting that whereas low throughput may be troublesome from a patient and organizational perspective, working conditions may still be perceived as more favorable., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The aim was to understand how multitasking is experienced by registered nurses and how it relates to their everyday practice in the emergency department., Method: Interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with registered nurses (n = 9) working in one of two included emergency departments in Sweden. Data were analyzed using Schilling's structured model for qualitative content analysis., Results: Three core concepts related to multitasking emerged from the interviews: 'multitasking - an attractive prerequisite for ED care'; 'multitasking implies efficiency' and 'multitasking is not stressful'. From these core concepts an additional theme emerged: '… and does not cause errors – at least for me', related to patient safety., Discussion: This study shows how the patient load and the unreflected multitasking that follows relate to nurses' perceived efficiency and job satisfaction. It also shows that the relationship between multitasking and errors is perceived to be mediated by whom the actor is, and his or her level of experience. Findings from this study add value to the discourse on multitasking and the emergency department context, as few studies go beyond examining the quantitative aspect of interruptions and multitasking and how it is experienced by the staff in their everyday practice., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)