Quote:
Originally Posted by golfing eagles
And one more criticism----ALL of this should be explained to the patient. There is a lot less confusion when the patient knows what is going on and why. Unfortunately, this tends not to happen.
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GE - I've selected this post rather than your longer and very detailed post several posts earlier. Just to save some space.
You comments are on target with two exceptions. You note that ER physicians and nurses are not the cause of jammed ERs. Generally this is true. However, if physician and nurse staffing is not altered to deal with higher volumes, they do become bottle necks. For example, if a hospital staffs the ER physicians at certain level during summer, and maintains that level in season, there is a high possibility of the docs becoming a cause of the waits and log jam. The same with ER nurses, lab and X-ray techs, etc.
Now this is not necessarily the fault of these professionals. It is more likely caused by management's failure to plan and staff properly. Having said that, management may well understand the problem, but may not be able to find sufficient staff in season to deal with the volume. Florida is a staffing nightmare for most hospitals when 50% of beds may be filled in summer, and the census might be 110% in season.