Christina Young1, Christopher Patey1,2, Paul Norman2, Teresa Chan3, Oliver Hurley1, Michelle Swab4, Shabnam Asghari5. 1. Centre for Rural Health Studies, Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada. 2. Carbonear General Hospital, Carbonear, NL, Canada. 3. Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. 4. Health Sciences Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada. 5. Centre for Rural Health Studies, Discipline of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada. sasghari@mun.ca.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Despite the importance of patient flow to emergency department (ED) management, there is a need to strengthen and expand training in flow strategies for practicing ED staff. To date, there has been limited academic inquiry into the skills and training that ED staff require to improve patient flow. As part of a quality improvement initiative, our team aimed to identify the topics and training methods that should be included in flow training for ED staff. METHODS: We conducted an integrative review and modified Delphi. For the integrative review, we sought to identify appropriate skills, training strategies, and training modalities to include in a curriculum for ED staff. The findings from the review were compiled and distributed to Canadian experts in ED efficiency through a modified Delphi, including physicians, nurses, and nurse practitioners. RESULTS: Our literature search retrieved 8359 articles, of which 46 were included in the review. We identified 19 skills, 9 training strategies, and 12 training modalities used to improve ED efficiency in the literature. For the modified Delphi, we received responses from 39 participants in round one and 28 in round two, with response rates of 57% and 41%, respectively. The topics chosen by the most respondents were: "flow decisions," "teamwork," "backlog and surge management," "leadership," and "situational awareness." CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that flow training should teach ED staff how to make decisions that improve flow, work more effectively as a team, manage patient backlog and surge, improve leadership skills, and develop situational awareness. These findings add to a gap in the academic literature regarding the training ED staff require to improve patient flow.
PURPOSE: Despite the importance of patient flow to emergency department (ED) management, there is a need to strengthen and expand training in flow strategies for practicing ED staff. To date, there has been limited academic inquiry into the skills and training that ED staff require to improve patient flow. As part of a quality improvement initiative, our team aimed to identify the topics and training methods that should be included in flow training for ED staff. METHODS: We conducted an integrative review and modified Delphi. For the integrative review, we sought to identify appropriate skills, training strategies, and training modalities to include in a curriculum for ED staff. The findings from the review were compiled and distributed to Canadian experts in ED efficiency through a modified Delphi, including physicians, nurses, and nurse practitioners. RESULTS: Our literature search retrieved 8359 articles, of which 46 were included in the review. We identified 19 skills, 9 training strategies, and 12 training modalities used to improve ED efficiency in the literature. For the modified Delphi, we received responses from 39 participants in round one and 28 in round two, with response rates of 57% and 41%, respectively. The topics chosen by the most respondents were: "flow decisions," "teamwork," "backlog and surge management," "leadership," and "situational awareness." CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that flow training should teach ED staff how to make decisions that improve flow, work more effectively as a team, manage patient backlog and surge, improve leadership skills, and develop situational awareness. These findings add to a gap in the academic literature regarding the training ED staff require to improve patient flow.