The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the extent to
which registered nurses’ practice was affected by emergency department
overcrowding. Participants were recruited from a tertiary hospital by using the
purpose sampling method. Data collection was done using a semi-structured
interview guide. Individual interviews were conducted with eight registered nurses
working in the paediatric emergency department. Data analysis was conducted
using thematic content analysis and Yin’s (2003:178) five-phase cycle. The study
findings revealed that the lack of professional nurse leadership and the difficult
existing relationship with the physicians were obstacles that had to be obviated if
the paediatric ED were to function optimally and best practice were to be
achieved. It was revealed that a problematic issue in the setting was that the
most critical decisions on allocating where patients should be treated were made
by physicians who have more authority than nurses. It was recommended that
the ED need to be clearly defined in the policies as an outpatient, emergency
care or as an episodic patient care area as “Admission” can mean admission to
the ED or admission as an inpatient/boarded patient. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/13938 |
| Date | 02 1900 |
| Creators | Meissenheimer, Corina |
| Contributors | Monama, Ernestine Nampa, Monareng, L. V. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xiii, 134 leaves, 17 unnumbered pages) : ill. |
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