Assessment of Communication between pre-hospital emergency services and Emergency Departments in Palestine رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

Introduction: Clinical handover is a whole part of work every day and takes a great role among paramedics and emergency department members for patients who arrive by ambulance. Purpose: To assess the current status of the communication and handover mechanism between pre-hospital services and the emergency departments in Palestinian hospitals, with the aim of identifying opportunities for improvement and making recommendations to improve the handover process. Methods: A descriptive, quantitative cross-sectional approach was used to test hypotheses and examine the association between variables. The study sample consisted of 220 nurses working in emergency departments in government hospitals in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, 130 paramedics working in the Palestine Red Crescent Society in West Bank, including Jerusalem. The researcher used the convenience sample in selecting the study sample. Results: The study showed that there is a statistically significant effect of communication between the pre-hospital team and the emergency team on patient outcomes, readiness of healthcare provider, and patients waiting time in emergency departments, at the level of significance (Sigma ≤ 0.05), in addition to, there is a statistically significant impact of the availability of equipment and tools for the communication process between pre-hospital services and the emergency department on the patient’s handover process effectiveness, the sigma value is (0.000). finally, there is a statistically significant impact of accuracy and adequacy of information in the patient handover process between the pre-hospital services team and the emergency team on the patient’s health and the medical procedures taken, the sigma value is (0.000). Conclusion: The study concluded that there is an effect of the communication process between the pre-hospital team and the emergency team in Palestinian hospitals on the vi patient’s health, the readiness of emergency health care providers to receive the patient and provide the appropriate treatment at the right time, on the patient’s waiting time in the emergency departments before receiving treatment. It was also found that there is an effect of the availability of appropriate equipment and tools on the process of communication between the two teams, and finally it was found that there is an impact on the accuracy and validity of the information hand overed on the patient's health.