Perceptions of Australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations
Objectives: To survey emergency department (ED) clinical staff about their perceptions of alcohol-related presentations. Design, setting and participants: A mixed methods online survey of ED clinicians in Australia and New Zealand, conducted from 30 May to 7 July 2014. Main outcome measures: The fre...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Australasian Medical Publishing
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30416 |
| _version_ | 1848753082582695936 |
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| author | Egerton-Warburton, Diana Gosbell, A. Wadsworth, A. Moore, K. Richardson, D. Fatovich, D. |
| author_facet | Egerton-Warburton, Diana Gosbell, A. Wadsworth, A. Moore, K. Richardson, D. Fatovich, D. |
| author_sort | Egerton-Warburton, Diana |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objectives: To survey emergency department (ED) clinical staff about their perceptions of alcohol-related presentations. Design, setting and participants: A mixed methods online survey of ED clinicians in Australia and New Zealand, conducted from 30 May to 7 July 2014. Main outcome measures: The frequency of aggression from alcoholaffected patients or their carers experienced by ED staff; the perceived impact of alcohol-related presentations on ED function, waiting times, other patients and staff. Results: In total, 2002 ED clinical staff completed the survey, including 904 ED nurses (45.2%) and 1016 ED doctors (50.7%). Alcohol-related verbal aggression from patients had been experienced in the past 12 months by 97.9% of respondents, and physical aggression by 92.2%. ED nurses were the group most likely to have felt unsafe because of the behaviour of these patients (92% reported such feelings). Alcohol-related presentations were perceived to negatively or very negatively affect waiting times (noted by 85.5% of respondents), other patients in the waiting room (94.4%), and the care of other patients (88.3%). Alcohol-affected patients were perceived to have a negative or very negative impact on staff workload (94.2%), wellbeing (74.1%) and job satisfaction (80.9%). Conclusions: Verbal and physical aggression by alcohol-affected patients is commonly experienced by ED clinical staff. This has a negative impact on the care of other patients, as well as on staff wellbeing. Managers of health services must ensure a safe environment for staff and patients. More importantly, a comprehensive public health approach to changing the prevailing culture that tolerates alcohol-induced unacceptable behaviour is required. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:18:52Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-30416 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:18:52Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Australasian Medical Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-304162018-06-12T00:31:30Z Perceptions of Australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations Egerton-Warburton, Diana Gosbell, A. Wadsworth, A. Moore, K. Richardson, D. Fatovich, D. Objectives: To survey emergency department (ED) clinical staff about their perceptions of alcohol-related presentations. Design, setting and participants: A mixed methods online survey of ED clinicians in Australia and New Zealand, conducted from 30 May to 7 July 2014. Main outcome measures: The frequency of aggression from alcoholaffected patients or their carers experienced by ED staff; the perceived impact of alcohol-related presentations on ED function, waiting times, other patients and staff. Results: In total, 2002 ED clinical staff completed the survey, including 904 ED nurses (45.2%) and 1016 ED doctors (50.7%). Alcohol-related verbal aggression from patients had been experienced in the past 12 months by 97.9% of respondents, and physical aggression by 92.2%. ED nurses were the group most likely to have felt unsafe because of the behaviour of these patients (92% reported such feelings). Alcohol-related presentations were perceived to negatively or very negatively affect waiting times (noted by 85.5% of respondents), other patients in the waiting room (94.4%), and the care of other patients (88.3%). Alcohol-affected patients were perceived to have a negative or very negative impact on staff workload (94.2%), wellbeing (74.1%) and job satisfaction (80.9%). Conclusions: Verbal and physical aggression by alcohol-affected patients is commonly experienced by ED clinical staff. This has a negative impact on the care of other patients, as well as on staff wellbeing. Managers of health services must ensure a safe environment for staff and patients. More importantly, a comprehensive public health approach to changing the prevailing culture that tolerates alcohol-induced unacceptable behaviour is required. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30416 10.5694/mja15.00858 Australasian Medical Publishing fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Egerton-Warburton, Diana Gosbell, A. Wadsworth, A. Moore, K. Richardson, D. Fatovich, D. Perceptions of Australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations |
| title | Perceptions of Australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations |
| title_full | Perceptions of Australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations |
| title_fullStr | Perceptions of Australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perceptions of Australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations |
| title_short | Perceptions of Australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations |
| title_sort | perceptions of australasian emergency department staff of the impact of alcohol-related presentations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30416 |