FACTORS INFLUENCING PATIENT WAITING TIME IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT OF KHUNYANGU SUB - COUNTY HOSPITAL, KENYA

Abstract

Waiting time continues to be an essential indicator of the quality of health services. A hospital's emergency room is the most important portion of the facility. For patients who have an immediate need for hospitalization, a delay in admission frequently worsens the patient's health and may endanger their lives. Overcrowding and long wait times have been increasingly common in the Emergency Rooms of western countries in recent years. The large average number of patients seen per day in the Emergency Room presents unique difficulties for emergency care in developing countries. According to the Quality Improvement Team reports and exit interviews, patients at the Khunyangu hospital frequently expressed frustration with the length of their waits in the emergency department. Objectives of the study were to examine individual factors influencing patient waiting time at the emergency Department, to assess health facility factors influencing patient waiting time at the Emergency Department and to assess healthcare workers factors influencing patient waiting time at the Emergency Department of Khunyangu subcounty Hospital. Descriptive cross-sectional research design guided the conduct of this study. Data collection was conducted on 191 patients and healthcare workers over a period of four weeks using an interviewer administered pretested structured questionnaire. Both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. To establish associations between the independent variable and dependent variables, correlations and cross tabulations were used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the influence of independent variables on the dependent variable. The findings demonstrated an R-squared value of 0.368. It was observed that there was a weak positive correlation that was statistically significant (r=.281, N=191, p=.000) between availability of health care workers at their work stations and waiting time. There was a weak positive correlation that was also statistically significant (r=.228, N=191, p=.002) between communication on waiting time in areas where there was no health worker to attend to the patient and the waiting time. In conclusion, the influences on waiting time are varied and interconnected. By implementing suitable workflow procedures, enhancing communication, and boosting equipment/supply availability, many of these problems could be mitigated. The findings can be utilized to set waiting time guidelines and enhance emergency department waiting. This study advises that hospital administration address the identified sources of delay in order to provide patients with timely care. Additionally, health care professionals should be present at their work stations. Additional research is required to evaluate the emergency department's impact and utility.