The survey of Ways of Reducing Patients’ Length of Stay in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review

Authors

1 Nursing Faculty, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Nursing Faculty and Trauma Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: In recent decades, increasingly crowded emergency departments (ED) cause considerable burden on the world's health care systems. Among the reasons for this bustle is the lengthy stay of patients.
Methods:  In  this  study,  a  systematic  review  was  used,  and  the  required information,  with  the  purpose  of  focusing  on  the  research  question,  was retrieved, evaluated, and integrated.
Results:  The  results  of  analyzing  the  data  of  11  selected  papers  with  the inclusion criteria and  keywords specified  from 2007 to 2014 in line  with the research  question  suggests  that  there  are  various  methods  to  reduce  the Emergency  Department  Length  Of  Stay  (EDLOS)  of  patients  which  are summarized in several classes. Equipping and improving of existing facilities in emergency departments, such as triage, observation units, operating and testing rooms, and advanced imaging needed by patients as well as modifying caring processes and adequate staffing are listed as the most important factors affecting the reduced length of stay.
Conclusion:  Improving  existing  structures  in  the  emergency  department, facilitating  the  processes  of  care,  and  providing  adequate  staffing  are  among the factors that significantly cause the reduced EDLOS. The reduced EDLOS, as  a  result,  causes  overcrowding  to  be  reduced,  the  capacity  to  accept  new patients as well as patient and nurses satisfaction to be increased, and also the quality of medical care to be improved.

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