title: Why Do Patients Return to the Emergency Department?
abstract: Review of recent evidence with translation to practice for the advanced practice nurse (APN) role is presented using a case study module for "Return Visits to the Emergency Department: The Patient Perspective." This qualitative inquiry performed 60 semistructured interviews of patients who returned to the emergency department within 9 days of their primary visit for the same complaint. Patients most often returned because of concerns that their initial visit did not adequately address their complaint, and they needed assurance from providers that their clinical condition was not a serious health concern. Patients also expressed a lack of contact with a provider between the 2 visits either to answer questions or to address ongoing concerns. This study highlights the important role of the APN in providing quality care, reassurance, and communication related to follow-up care.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Services, University of Kentucky HealthCare, Lexington (Mr Proud and Dr Howard); and University of Kentucky College of Nursing, Lexington (Mr Proud).
authors.forename: Matthew E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Proud
authors.forename: Patricia Kunz
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Howard
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000451:nursing*; D057179:Advanced Practice Nursing; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D016529:Emergency Nursing; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013997:Time Factors