The effects of emergency department overcrowding on safety attitudes of healthcare staff: a cross-sectional observational study
Hasan Bicen, Ahmet ButunIntroduction:
Overcrowding in the emergency departments (EDs) has many negative effects on patients, healthcare staff, and the healthcare system. Overcrowding in ED can negatively affect the safety attitudes of healthcare staff. This study aimed to examine the relationship between ED overcrowding and the safety attitudes of healthcare staff.
Methods:
This cross-sectional descriptive study included 336 healthcare staff working in the EDs of 4 hospitals located in the southeast of Türkiye. Data were collected between February 16, 2024, and March 30, 2024. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY), and the significance level was determined as
Results:
As a result of 43 days of data collection, the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale score was determined as “extremely busy but not overcrowded” for 21 days, “overcrowded” for 17 days, and “severely overcrowded” for 5 days. As the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale score increased, the scores of teamwork climate (r: −0.236), safety climate (r: −0.248), job satisfaction (r: −0.254), perceptions of management (r: −0.302), and working conditions (r: −0.348) decreased significantly (
Conclusion:
This study revealed that overcrowding in the EDs has a significant effect on the safety attitudes of healthcare staff and that healthcare systems should develop multidisciplinary solutions to this problem.