International Emergency Nursing Vol. 65 November 2022
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the urgency of patients admitted to the emergency department
Dublin Core
Title
International Emergency Nursing Vol. 65 November 2022
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the urgency of patients admitted to the emergency department
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the urgency of patients admitted to the emergency department
Subject
Covid-19, Pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, Triage, Priority, Emergency department, Urgency, Urgent patients, Non urgent patients
Description
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought important changes in access to the Emergency Department (ED). At present, an analysis of how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed not only the number but also the nature of the urgency of ED access is not available. This study aimed to verify the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the
urgency of patients admitted to the ED utilizing timebased analyses.
Methods: A quasi-experimental interrupted time series analysis based on a retrospective review of data from all ED admissions occurring at the Merano Hospital (Italy) from 1 January 2015 to 30 June 2021 was conducted.
Results: From January 2015 to June 2021, 416,560 patients were admitted to the ED. Since the pandemic outbreak, the trend of urgent patients (classified as orange and red by triage) remained unchanged compared to the pre-pandemic period (p = 0.095, p = 0.155). In contrast, patients classified as blue (non-urgent) increased
exponentially since the outbreak of the pandemic (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The present study reported stability in urgent codes (orange and red) since the pandemic outbreak while a dramatic increase in non-urgent codes (blue and green) is reported. The results of the study may indicate the need to find health policy solutions to manage this large increase in nonurgent patients requiring assessment in EDs since the outbreak of the pandemic.
urgency of patients admitted to the ED utilizing timebased analyses.
Methods: A quasi-experimental interrupted time series analysis based on a retrospective review of data from all ED admissions occurring at the Merano Hospital (Italy) from 1 January 2015 to 30 June 2021 was conducted.
Results: From January 2015 to June 2021, 416,560 patients were admitted to the ED. Since the pandemic outbreak, the trend of urgent patients (classified as orange and red by triage) remained unchanged compared to the pre-pandemic period (p = 0.095, p = 0.155). In contrast, patients classified as blue (non-urgent) increased
exponentially since the outbreak of the pandemic (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The present study reported stability in urgent codes (orange and red) since the pandemic outbreak while a dramatic increase in non-urgent codes (blue and green) is reported. The results of the study may indicate the need to find health policy solutions to manage this large increase in nonurgent patients requiring assessment in EDs since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Creator
Arian Zaboli, Francesco Brigo, Serena Sibilio, Massimiliano Fanni Canelles, Eleonora Rella, Gabriele Magnarelli, Norbert Pfeifer, Gianni Turcato
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd.
Date
November 2022
Contributor
Sri Wahyuni
Rights
1755-599X
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Text
Coverage
International Emergency Nursing Vol. 65 November 2022
Files
Citation
Arian Zaboli, Francesco Brigo, Serena Sibilio, Massimiliano Fanni Canelles, Eleonora Rella, Gabriele Magnarelli, Norbert Pfeifer, Gianni Turcato , “International Emergency Nursing Vol. 65 November 2022
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the urgency of patients admitted to the emergency department,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed February 5, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/1765.
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the urgency of patients admitted to the emergency department,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed February 5, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/1765.