Narcisse asks where patients wait and about hallway crowding
Narcisse asks where patients await inpatient beds and how H&H handles space constraints and hallway crowding. Motzquist says it is facility-specific, that ideally no patient waits in hallways, but H&H will use hallway and other spaces when necessary.
Where are patients awaiting transfer from the emergency department to inpatient bed typically held?
I'm sorry, what was that question?
Where the patient usually, where you keep the patient after you finish in the ER to transfer to go to the bed.
I think it's a very facility-specific question and depends.
Some facilities try to designate a separate space in the emergency department for it.
Some use a scattered approach.
And so it's very facility dependent on how they manage those operations.
Some is constrained by building construction and resource availability.
And so I wouldn't be able to answer that question off the top of my cuff.
How are we doing with the space-wise?
Because one of the problems that we face in many ERs that we don't have no space at all.
We end up putting a bunch of folks in the hallway and become more chaotic.
Are we doing well in that setting?
I mean, that's a hard question to answer, right?
So ideally, we never put any patients in the hallway.
Ideally, you would never have that need, but we will always see patients when they come in.
We try to see them as soon as possible, and we'll use any available resource we have available for that, including hallway spaces and other areas.
Because that delayed the process too, you know that, right?
What was that?
I said that delayed the process.
When you have people overcrowded here.
Absolutely, it makes it more challenging.
What impact do prolonged emergency department and inpatient bed wait times have on patient outcomes, quality of care, and hospital operations?
I'm sorry, can you one more time, please?
What impact do prolonged emergency department and inpatient bed wait times have on patients'outcomes, quality of care, and hospital operations?
I've seen some mixed studies on that.
I think overall we feel that the sooner the patient gets up to an inpatient bed, it's better for the patient.
I think it's more humane and private and decent for them to be there, and the resources are better served.
And so we strive in our limited resource environment to do the best possible we can with the resources we have.
The reason I've been asking all those questions, you know, I lived it.
And one of the things, the patient get aggravated for staying in the ER, in the hallway for a long period of time.
And that actually get them frustrated.
Thank you.
That when you stress, you know, your quality of care, the things that are in your mind, the confidence that you have in, you know, the trust, everything just become a ripple effect.
So I think we have to assess our emergency space as well.
Absolutely.
Patients might get the impression they're not being cared for, for example, but they are being cared for, even though in situations.
We've seen episodes of violence increase in the emergency department.
We've seen nurses attacked, physicians attacked, EMS attacked.
People forget.
Because when you're in this environment where you're ill and you're not getting better and you're stressed and breached, it's very complicated and very challenging for them.
Absolutely.