Areas of delay related to prolonged length of stay in an emergency department of an academic hospital in South Africa

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dc.contributor.author Mashao, Kapari Constance
dc.contributor.author Heyns, Tanya
dc.contributor.author White, Zelda
dc.date.accessioned 2021-08-20T11:12:28Z
dc.date.available 2021-08-20T11:12:28Z
dc.date.issued 2021-06
dc.description.abstract INTRODUCTION: Globally, length of stay of patients in emergency departments remains a challenge. Remaining in the emergency department for >12 h increases health care costs, morbidity and mortality rates and leads to crowding and lower patient satisfaction. The aim of this research was to describe the areas of delay related to prolonged length of stay in the emergency department of an academic hospital. METHODS: A quantitative retrospective study was done. The Input-Throughput-Output model was used to identify the areas of patients’ journey through the emergency department. The possible areas of delay where then described. Using systematic sampling, a total of 100 patient files managed in an emergency department of an academic hospital in South Africa were audited over a period of 3 months. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis was used to analyse data. RESULTS: The mean length of stay of patients in the emergency department was 73 h 49 min. The length of stay per phase was: input (3 h 17 min), throughput (16 h 25 min) and output (54 h 7 min). A strong significant relationship found between the length of stay and the time taken between disposition decision (throughput phase) disposition decision to admission or discharge of patients from the ED (output phase) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The output phase was identified as the longest area of delay in this study, with the time taken between disposition decision to admission or discharge of patients from the ED (patients waiting for inpatient beds) as the main significant area of delay. en_ZA
dc.description.department Human Nutrition en_ZA
dc.description.department Nursing Science en_ZA
dc.description.librarian pm2021 en_ZA
dc.description.uri https://www.elsevier.com/locate/afjem en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Kapari Mashao, Tanya Heyns, Zelda White, Areas of delay related to prolonged length of stay in an emergency department of an academic hospital in South Africa, African Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2021, Pages 237-241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2021.02.002. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 2211-419X (print)
dc.identifier.other 10.1016/j.afjem.2021.02.002
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/81404
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher Elsevier en_ZA
dc.rights © 2018 . Published by Elsevier Ltd. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. en_ZA
dc.subject Emergency department en_ZA
dc.subject Input-throughput-output model en_ZA
dc.subject Length of stay en_ZA
dc.title Areas of delay related to prolonged length of stay in an emergency department of an academic hospital in South Africa en_ZA
dc.type Article en_ZA


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