RESCUE: Rapid, Effective, Safe Communication in Emergency Departments: A cross-sectional e-survey
Tracks
Concurrent Stream 2
| Wednesday, October 16, 2024 |
| 3:50 PM - 4:10 PM |
| Tuscan Room |
Overview
Amy Freeman-Sanderson
Speaker
Dr Amy Freeman-Sanderson
Senior Lecturer - Speech Pathologist
University Of Technology Sydney | Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
RESCUE: Rapid, Effective, Safe Communication in Emergency Departments: A cross-sectional e-survey.
3:50 PM - 4:10 PMAbstract
Background:
Clear patient-provider communication is essential for accurately communicating symptoms, information exchange, and patient management. Communication in the Emergency Department (ED) is time-pressured. The routine wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) adopted as a risk-reduction strategy against COVID-19 transmission, introduced new challenges to communication. This research aimed to (a) understand PPE mask-wearing communication from the emergency staff perspective, and (b) identify factors contributing to communicative success, breakdown, and repair for patients and staff.
Methods:
An ethically approved online survey using convenience sampling; with prospective recruitment of staff who currently or in the past 12-months had worked in an Australian ED, was conducted. Categorical data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data analysed using content thematic analysis.
Results:
Across nursing, medical and allied health, 78 participants entered data; 53 (68%) female, median age 39-years (range 22-69years), with a median of 6-years clinical experience in ED (range 2-months to 45-years). Participants reported PPE impacted communication in the majority of interactions with patients (84%) and staff (63%), with almost two-thirds of patient interactions being rated as “somewhat difficult”. Across the content themes of (a) impact to communication with other staff, (b) impact to patient care, and (c) strategies for communication breakdown there were shared impacts on the establishment of rapport, loss of meaning, and the need for more time to communicate and provide care. Direct health impacts from communicating in PPE included voice fatigue, skin irritation, and throat dryness as reported by almost half of the participants.
Conclusion:
Emergency staff perceive that wearing PPE impacts vocal and non-vocal communication and has a range of negative impacts on staff and patients. Communication breakdowns impacted aspects of care in ED more than others, with loss of time a connected theme across communication breakdown and repair.
Clear patient-provider communication is essential for accurately communicating symptoms, information exchange, and patient management. Communication in the Emergency Department (ED) is time-pressured. The routine wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) adopted as a risk-reduction strategy against COVID-19 transmission, introduced new challenges to communication. This research aimed to (a) understand PPE mask-wearing communication from the emergency staff perspective, and (b) identify factors contributing to communicative success, breakdown, and repair for patients and staff.
Methods:
An ethically approved online survey using convenience sampling; with prospective recruitment of staff who currently or in the past 12-months had worked in an Australian ED, was conducted. Categorical data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data analysed using content thematic analysis.
Results:
Across nursing, medical and allied health, 78 participants entered data; 53 (68%) female, median age 39-years (range 22-69years), with a median of 6-years clinical experience in ED (range 2-months to 45-years). Participants reported PPE impacted communication in the majority of interactions with patients (84%) and staff (63%), with almost two-thirds of patient interactions being rated as “somewhat difficult”. Across the content themes of (a) impact to communication with other staff, (b) impact to patient care, and (c) strategies for communication breakdown there were shared impacts on the establishment of rapport, loss of meaning, and the need for more time to communicate and provide care. Direct health impacts from communicating in PPE included voice fatigue, skin irritation, and throat dryness as reported by almost half of the participants.
Conclusion:
Emergency staff perceive that wearing PPE impacts vocal and non-vocal communication and has a range of negative impacts on staff and patients. Communication breakdowns impacted aspects of care in ED more than others, with loss of time a connected theme across communication breakdown and repair.
Biography
Dr Amy Freeman-Sanderson is a Senior Lecturer and a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist at the University of Technology Sydney. She holds an Honorary Clinical Specialist Speech Pathologist appointment at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Sydney, is an Honorary Senior Fellow in the Critical Care Division at The George Institute for Global Health, and an Affiliate of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre (ANZIC-RC), School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University.
She has over 20 years of clinical and leadership experience in quaternary and tertiary Sydney and London hospitals. Her clinically focussed international research program aims to optimise communication and swallowing outcomes for patients following critical illness. A core focus of her work is empowering and enabling patient communication in an acute setting. She has disseminated her work globally authoring over 45 publications, delivering over 90 presentations, and is an NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow.
