title: Patient and caregiver expectations of emergency department care: A scoping literature review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Communication between health care providers (HCPs) and patients and/or their caregivers in the chaotic emergency department (ED) context can be challenging and potentially impact health outcomes and patient satisfaction. Studies examining strategies to improve communication of patient and caregivers expectations of care in an ED are widely dispersed.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a scoping review of the published and grey literature to examine the extent, range and nature of existing research evidence regarding strategies to enhance communication of patient and caregiver expectations of care in an ED.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 599 articles retrieved, 24 met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies identified included patients (n=9) or caregivers (n=8) as the population of interest, while the remainder examined the expectations of a mix of patients, parents/caregivers, and/or HCPs (n=7). The majority (n=21) of the studies did not communicate patient/caregiver expectations to HCPs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This scoping review highlights the paucity of available research literature evaluating strategies to communicate patient and caregiver ED expectations. Our findings identify the need for experimental designs in future studies to evaluate implementation strategies for ED expectation tools with a particular emphasis on measuring the impact of sharing patient expectations with HCPs.
authors: Dalhousie University, School of Nursing, Strengthening Transitions in Care Research Lab, 5869 University Avenue, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada; IWK Health Centre, 5980 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 6R8, Canada. Electronic address: jacurran@dal.ca.
authors: Janet
authors: J
authors: Curran
authors: Dalhousie University, School of Nursing, Strengthening Transitions in Care Research Lab, 5869 University Avenue, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada. Electronic address: ccassidy@dal.ca.
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Cassidy
authors: QEII Health Sciences Centre, 1799 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3G1, Canada. Electronic address: dcmd99@msn.com.
authors: Darrell
authors: D
authors: Chiasson
authors: IWK Health Centre, 5980 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 6R8, Canada. Electronic address: Shannon.MacPhee@iwk.nshealth.ca.
authors: Shannon
authors: S
authors: MacPhee
authors: Dalhousie University, School of Nursing, Strengthening Transitions in Care Research Lab, 5869 University Avenue, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada. Electronic address: abishop@dal.ca.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Bishop
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003142:Communication; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000592:standards*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations
keywords: Emergency department; Expectations; Health care providers; Patients; Scoping literature review