How to increase triage waiting time tolerance by using role play educational videos

Patients visiting emergency healthcare departments undergo a process that involves initial evaluation called triage, implying that the patient is evaluated by a doctor/nurse to determine his/her level of medical emergency (Khazaei et al. Triage is necessary since it helps in rapid identification of the sickest of the patients who will then be given healthcare services promptly. When patients are waiting for triage, they may be under a lot of stress (Theunissen, Lardenoye, Hannemann, Gerritsen, Brink, & Poeze, 2014). The waiting room is a representation of a containment space of the inevitable frustration for physicians and patients alike especially when the triage waiting time is long and intolerable. However, this would be different suppose the waiting rooms were good enough for more than just waiting (Leong & Horn, 2014).

Imagine the experience of a person when he/she is fearful, restless, hungry, uncomfortable, bored, in pain, nervous, pressured, sick and worried, every minute of triage waiting seems like an hour (Willis, Ozturk & Chandra, 2015). The long triage waiting times will stir resentment against the healthcare team and irritate the patients. for example, whenever one eavesdrops in a waiting room, it is likely to hear the patients complain and relent, “these physicians have no respect for the time of their patients!” growing impatience among the patients during triage wait makes it extremely difficult or even almost impossible to achieve and sustain the high quality patient care satisfaction (Ngongo, Carlier & Mols, 2011). As the healthcare consumers are becoming increasingly and understandably demanding, the speed of healthcare delivery is becoming a very powerful factor in the competitive healthcare and patient satisfaction (Osadchiy & Kc, 2017).

The occupied triage waiting time will feel shorter than a triage waiting time that is unoccupied. According to a survey, most patients feel that the quality of healthcare and physician encounters is directly related to impression during the triage waiting in the waiting room (Sherwin, McKeown, Evans & Bhattacharyya, 2013). For instance, long and increasing triage waiting has been linked to decreased patient satisfaction. However, if the patients are occupied during the triage wait, patient satisfaction markedly increases, even if the triage waiting times become much longer (Setoodehzadeh et al. The triage waiting times of uncertain length makes it harder for the patients to tolerate the wait. Besides, the nursing staff within the healthcare facility will say nothing regarding the triage wait since they are embarrassed and they do not know how to estimate the time for the wait (Greene & Hall, 2012).

, Toulideh, Z. , Gorji, H. A. , & Feazbakhsh, N. Measuring and analyzing waiting time indicators of patients’ admitted in emergency department: a case study. Z. , KARAMPORIAN, A. , Soltanian, A. R. , KIMIAIE, A. , Gerritsen, K. , Brink, P. R. G. , & Poeze, M. Gignon, M. , Idris, H. , Manaouil, C. , & Ganry, O. The waiting room: vector for health education? the general practitioner’s point of view. Leong, Z. A. , & Horn, M. S. (2014, June). The Journal of ambulatory care management, 26(2), 150-158. Willis, W. K. , Ozturk, A. O. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 16(1), 39. Khankeh, H. R. , Khorasani-Zavareh, D. , Azizi-Naghdloo, F. French, S. , Lindo, J. L. , Jean, E. W. Improving patient satisfaction by adding a physician in triage. Journal of Hospital Administration, 3(1), 7. Kumari, K. M. , Amberkar, M. , & Mols, P. Patient complaints in a hospital emergency department in Belgium.