Doctors’, nurses’ and clinical associates’ understanding of emergency care practitioners

Abstract

Background: Healthcare professionals’ understanding of the knowledge, skills and training of their counterparts from other disciplines cultivates appreciation and respect within the workplace. This, in turn, results in better teamwork and improved patient care. Emergency departments are places where emergency care practitioners (ECPs) engage with doctors, nurses and clinical associates. Whilst the importance of inter-professional communication and teamwork between in-hospital professionals and pre-hospital emergency care providers is acknowledged, no literature could be found describing exactly how much these in-hospital professionals understand about the training and capabilities of their ECP colleagues.Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the level of understanding that prospective doctors, nurses and clinical associates have regarding the training and capabilities of ECPs.Setting: The research was conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa, at two universities.Methods: Seventy-seven participants completed a purpose-designed questionnaire assessing their understanding regarding the education and clinical capabilities of ECPs.Results: In total, 64% of participants demonstrated a poor understanding of the level of education and clinical capabilities of ECPs. The remaining 36% showed only moderate levels of understanding.Conclusion: Medical, nursing and clinical associate graduates have a generally poor understanding of the education and clinical capabilities of their ECP colleagues who practise predominantly in the pre-hospital environment. This lack of understanding can become a barrier to effective communication between ECPs and in-hospital staff during patient handover in emergency departments.Contribution: This research highlights a lack of understanding about the role and function of South African ECPs as pre-hospital emergency care providers and the need for more effective inter-professional education.

Experiences of emergency care providers conducting critical care transfers in Gauteng Province, South Africa

“…These circumstances are supported by other local studies that have shown that in-hospital staff generally have poor knowledge related to existing prehospital qualifications and scope of practice. [24,25] Consequently, hospitals commonly request CCTs for patients whose ongoing care and monitoring needs far exceed the scope and capability of the CCT team.…”

“…It has been shown that the management of high-acuity patients in continually resource-constrained environments is linked to suboptimal patient care, compassion fatigue and interprofessional relationship strain. [25] While CCT plays a vital role in the resource-constrained healthcare system, the absence of a contextually relevant definition of what constitutes a CCT, coupled with potential curriculum deficits in undergraduate EC programmes, has a negative impact on the experiences of EC providers conducting CCTs. Acknowledging CCT as an area of specialisation is an important first step in addressing some of the frustrations and challenges experienced by EC providers tasked with conducting CCTs.…”

Effect of ISBAR Clinical Handover Application on Nurses’ Perception of Communication and Attitudes toward Patient Safety at Emirates Maternity Hospital in Gaza Strip, Palestine

“…Accurately sharing information is a key factor in sustaining safe patient care in the healthcare setting, and it is a priority to improve patient safety around the world (5). Clinical handoff provides advances in nursing services including promoted care, enriched care prioritization, increased transfer of patients' information to nurses, improved documentation, decreased overtime, reduced misinterpretations, and improved efficiency and teamwork (1,4,6,7). Herawati claimed that good handover assist in detecting mistakes and supporting the continuity of care (8).…”

Adopting a ‘System of Caring' as a leadership strategy toward professionalisation within South African emergency medical services: A grounded theory

“…Within the South African setting there have been a number of focused research initiatives aimed at improving pre-hospital care systems, however these initiatives have highlighted the need for further research into, and development of SA EMS systems and processes [6 , 7] . Mianda et al suggest there is an ongoing systemic lag in the development of clinical leadership competency among frontline healthcare providers, leading to slow professionalization of ‘non-physician’ based healthcare units [8] .…”