Relationships between ED patients and care providers
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Respecting patients |
“… He listened carefully to me. … I was very happy he listened to me.” S47
“What I liked about Dr. X was his kindness and his willingness to talk and to explain things—he was good like that.” S60
“I felt like I was being taken seriously…” S36, 62
“… the worst time of my life, is the time walking in the emergency door and [being] told I sought medication.” S45
“… [the nurses said] things like how it [being transgender] was against God and just wasn’t right.” S74
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Communicating with patients to keep them informed |
“They explained to me in the plainest language that I could understand, what they were doing, what was wrong with me, what I was there for. I understood everything that they said to me.” S47
“They explained to me what would happen, that I had three options, I could get the D&C, I could go home and just let it happen on its own, or I could have surgery.” S72
“… the nurse encouraged me and supported me in telling about the act of violence.” S65
“They didn’t tell me anything and they were really scaring me.” S72
“You spend twelve hours saying the same thing.” S66
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Caring for patients |
“I was by myself in the emergency room so I just felt horrible and there was nobody there and you know it was really bad. You know, the nurse she was really nice and she showed a lot of empathy for me. She told me, ‘It’s going to be okay.’” S81
… a non-purposeful touch that conveyed caring and reassurance was an essential component of patients feeling an overriding sense of being safe.S49
… negative emotions associated with being alone were allayed if the patients saw staff present.S49
“… I remember feeling like they understood that this was a dead baby for me even though it wasn’t. I think they at least understood that it was a loss. So I felt really like they got it.” S82
“I was very disappointed that I was not offered to talk to someone, it just kind of disappeared. It would have been good if they had a few routines… after I had returned home(I)realized that I needed to talk.” S73
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Building and maintaining patients’ confidence |
“When [the team] took control … I felt more safe…”
S68
“In ED they were all in harmony with each other… They all had a job to do and they did it, in sequence and sometimes in parallel, they just knew what to do and they did it.”
S48
… feelings of being vulnerable can be minimized through the actions of staff that demonstrate they are in control and can be trusted.S49
“The pain team said I need to get the depression addressed, and the CAT team said ‘you need to get your migraines fixed’… I just burst into tears and said I can’t connect up all the dots, I can’t connect you all up.”
S41
“The wait was so long. They [nurses] kept telling me tonight, this evening, no, no tomorrow morning … I couldn’t believe them anymore. So finally when they came to bring me to the surgery room… I couldn’t trust them anymore.”
S64
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Spending time in the ED environment
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Being aware of physical aspects of the ED environment |
“Clean, comfortable… it made me feel safe.”
S48
“I was taken to one of the assessment rooms and not to the main part of the emergency department but to a room which was a more private room that was walled rather than just curtains.”
S63
“… I’m 6'3'' and I’m in a 5 foot something bed. It’s uncomfortable…”
S88
“The reason is that we didn’t get sleep in the emergency because everybody was talking and there is no privacy.”
S64
“Every single patient around the waiting room must have heard the doctor ask if my husband had punched me.”
S65
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Waiting in the ED environment |
… magazines or a television facilitating the waiting are largely appreciated. Without them, patients feel neglected.S80
“… Some people were sicker than I was and so I had to wait for my turn, and that was ok with me.”
S64
“I was told how long I’d have to wait.” S61
“This is not the first time I’ve been here and was so ill and had to sit and wait. Then, when I get to the next spot, I have to sit and wait. Then they [the EM physicians] come in and out for a second, and then you have to wait again.”
S60
“… A lady sitting in the waiting room looks dreadful from pain, she was given nothing …” S39
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