Expectations of patients, nurses and physicians in geriatric nursing home emergencies.
OBJECTIVE
To determine contentment with the performance of primary mission emergency care providers.


METHODS
A prospective cohort study was conducted using key informant interviews to assess quality of life and self-rated degree of contentment with care in geriatric emergencies.


RESULTS
Interviews concerning a total of 152 geriatric emergency cases in nursing homes were conducted with patients in 13 (8.6%) cases, geriatric nurses in 132 (86.8%) cases and emergency physicians in 116 (76.3%) cases within a 3-month period. All responding patients as well as the majority of nurses (96.2%) and physicians (79.4%) were content with the quality of emergency care, but showed less contentment with communication (57.6% of nurses; 22.4% of physicians) and with cooperation on-site (57.6% of nurses; 20.7% of physicians).


CONCLUSIONS
Participants perceived a deficit in communication and cooperation on-site. There is a need for intensified education in managing geriatric emergency patients, especially with regard to communication and psychosocial issues.
Bluemel
M K
MK
Department of Operational Medicine, Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
Traweger
C
C
Kinzl
J F
JF
Baubin
M A
MA
Lederer
W
W
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001317:Austria; D003142:Communication; D004630:Emergencies; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires