Health care staff experiences of delayed transfer of critically ill patients from an emergency centre in the Western Cape, South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: BackgroundGlobally, critically ill patients are accommodated in emergency centres for different reasons. One of these reasons is delay in transfer for admission purposes. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of health care staff with regard to delayed transfer of critically ill patients from an emergency centre in the Western Cape, South Africa.MethodsA descriptive design with a qualitative approach was used. A total of ten (N=10) participants took part in the study. A self-developed semi-structured interview guide with open-ended questions and probes were used during data collection. The Health Research Ethics Committee at Stellenbosch University, South Africa gave approval for the study. Approval was also received from the Western Cape Government Health Department and the senior medical manager of the regional hospital to conduct the study at the emergency centre. Informed written consent was obtained from all the participants as well as consent to use a digital recorder. Themes were identified during data analysis and verified with the academic supervisor. Themes are described in the researcher's analogy of an engine as follows: resource engine, staff engine, critical care patient engine and emergency centre engine.ResultsThe findings of the study showed that delayed transfer of critically ill patients from the emergency centre leads to pressure on the health care workers in the emergency centre and ultimately compromises the patient in need of quality care. The recommendations for strategic management are thus to recruit critical care staff, to support further education of staff, and to utilise the high care unit appropriately.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University