McGuigan Tricia, Watson Patricia
NHS Lanarkshire.
Emerg Nurse. 2010 Oct;18(6):34-8. doi: 10.7748/en.18.6.34.s18.
To discover the factors influencing patients' decisions to attend emergency departments (EDs) for non-urgent treatment.
A sample of 196 patients self-presenting at an NHS Lanarkshire ED were interviewed by telephone.
The results show that most of the sample members thought that their conditions required urgent attention and that their attendance at the ED was appropriate. The largest proportion of the sample presented with soft tissue injuries or haematomas. Females tended to attend because of others' advice more than did males, with families and friends rather than healthcare professionals being their most common source of healthcare advice.
A targeted social marketing campaign is needed to address the misconceptions of people who self-present at EDs. The employment of nurse advisors to assess and divert patients to appropriate care services can reduce attendance at EDs and would educate attendees about help-seeking decisions.
探寻影响患者前往急诊科进行非紧急治疗决策的因素。
通过电话采访了196名自行前往NHS拉纳克郡急诊科的患者。
结果显示，大多数样本成员认为他们的病情需要紧急关注，且他们前往急诊科是恰当的。样本中出现软组织损伤或血肿的比例最高。女性因他人建议前往急诊科的情况比男性更多，家人和朋友而非医疗保健专业人员是她们最常见的医疗保健建议来源。
需要开展有针对性的社会营销活动，以纠正自行前往急诊科的人群的误解。聘用护士顾问来评估患者并将其转至合适的护理服务机构，可以减少急诊科的就诊人数，并能让就诊者了解寻求帮助的决策。
