Asian Oncol Nurs.  2017 Dec;17(4):246-251. 10.5388/aon.2017.17.4.246.

Triage and Length of Stay in a Cancer Center Emergency Department

• Ha BH
• Park JY

• KMID: 2401640
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5388/aon.2017.17.4.246

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify the triage and length of stay of cancer patients who visited an emergency department in a cancer center.
METHODS
Aretrospective descriptive study design was used. Data were collected from medical records of patients who visited an emergency room from March 7 to June 30, 2016. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Walis tests.
RESULTS
In total, 2,699 cancer patients visited the emergency room excluding cases with insufficient records. The mean age was 58.7±18.7 years, and males were 47.0% and 56.0%, respectively. In triage, 184 (6.8%) were "˜emergency' patients, 823 (30.5%) were "˜urgent', and 1,692 (62.7%) were the most "˜non-emergency' patients. The average stay of length in the emergency room was 5.79±7.69 hours.
CONCLUSION
These findings show that development of triage tool and communication system with staff are needed to reduce overcrowding and length of stay of the emergency department.

Keyword

Triage; Length of Stay; Neoplasms; Emergencies

MeSH Terms

Emergencies*
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Humans
Length of Stay*
Male
Medical Records
Triage*

Reference

1. Shin SD, Jo YH, Cheon SB, Jung SK, Kwak YH, Rhee JE, et al. Effect of emergency department overcrowding on the outcome of patient care: a pilot study. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2004; 15:1–7.

2. Choe MS, Seo KS, Kam S, Seo JS, Lee JH, Seol DH, et al. Clinical analysis of Frequent attenders of emergency department. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2003; 14:560–8.

3. Park IC, Lee KR, Goo HD, Kim SW, Jang SJ, Sim HS. Triage of non-emergency patient and guideline for transfer. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 1995; 6:403–10.

4. Derlet RW. Overcrowding in emergency departments: increased de-mand and decreased capacity. Ann Emerg Med. 2002; 39:430–2.

5. Heo DS, Yun YH, Jeong JY, Kim HS, Kim SH, Shin SD, et al. Inappropriate care of oncologic emergency in Korea. Korean J Hosp Palliat Care. 1998; 1:14–22.

6. Kim Y. Healthcare policy and healthcare utilization behavior to improve hospital infection control after the middle east respiratory syndrome outbreak. J Korean Med Assoc. 2015; 58:598–605.

7. Mezza I. Triage: setting priorities for health care. Nurs Forum. 1992; 27:15–9.

8. Vieth TL, Rhodes KV. The effect of crowding on access and quality in an academic ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2006; 24:787–94.

9. Fernandes CM, Tanabe P, Gilboy N, Johnson LA, McNair RS, Rosenau AM, et al. Five-level triage: a report from the ACEP/ENA five-level triage task force. J Emerg Nurs. 2005; 31:39–50.

10. Ahn KO, Yun SY, Lee SJ, Jung KY, Cho JH, Jo HS. Definition and analysis of overcrowding in the emergency department of ten tertiary hospitals. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2004; 15:261–72.

11. Lambe S, Washington DL, Fink A, Laouri M, Liu H, Scura Fosse J, et al. Waiting times in California's emergency departments. Ann Emerg Med. 2003; 41:35–44.

12. Bayley MD, Schwartz JS, Shofer FS, Weiner M, Sites FD, Traber KB, et al. The financial burden of emergency department congestion and hospital crowding for chest pain patients awaiting admission. Ann Emerg Med. 2005; 45:110–7.

13. Pines JM, Hollander JE, Localio AR, Metlay JP. The association between emergency department crowding and hospital performance on antibiotic timing for pneumonia and percutaneous intervention for myocardial infarction. Acad Emerg Med. 2006; 13:873–8.

14. Yang SH, Park SJ, Lee JS, Kwon OY, Choi HS, Hong HP, et al. Predictive factors for short-term mortality in terminal cancer patients who visit an emergency department. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2010; 21:465–73.

15. Richardson DB. Increase in patient mortality at 10 days associated with emergency department overcrowding. Med J Aust. 2006; 184:213–6.

16. Sprivulis PC, Da Silva JA, Jacobs IG, Frazer AR, Jelinek GA. The association between hospital overcrowding and mortality among patients admitted via Western Australian emergency departments. Med J Aust. 2006; 184:208–12.

17. Shin SD, Park CB, Cha WC, Jang YP, Shin SH, Lee JH, et al. Modeling the regional emergency care network as a solution of emergency department overcrowding. Seoul: Ministry of Health and Welfare;2011.

18. Kim EJ, Lim JY. Evaluation of shortening the stay time of patients in an emergency medical center (EMC). J Korean Acad Soc Home Care Nurs. 2010; 17:21–7.

19. Jang SJ, Jang MJ, Lee HS. Overcrowding in emergency department. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 1992; 3:71–8.

20. Yang SA, Cho OH, Yoo YS. A survey of cancer patients who visited emergency room. Korean J Hosp Palliat Care. 2009; 12:228–33.

21. Barbera L, Taylor C, Dudgeon D. Why do patients with cancer visit the emergency department near the end of life? CMAJ. 2010; 182:563–8.

22. Korea Central Cancer Registry; National Cancer Center (KR). Annual report of cancer statistics in Korea in 2013 [Internet]. Available from. http://www.ncc.re.kr/cancerStatsView.ncc?bbsnum=358&searchKey=total&searchValue=&pageNum=1. [Accessed September 3, 2017].

23. Lim SJ, Yi MS. Study on cancer patients who visited an emergency department with the side effects of chemotherapy. J Korean Clin Nurs Res. 2014; 20:75–89.