Access block experienced by a general internal medicine population: factors and outcomes

• Author / Creator

  Wolodko, Lesley

• This retrospective study examines the frequency and intensity of access block experienced by a general internal medicine population within a large tertiary care center. The study demonstrated internal medicine admissions experienced significant emergency department wait times and access block. Factors significantly associated with prolonged emergency department times included age, isolation, admission day, admission in fall, admission year, medicine blocked beds, medicine occupancy, medicine emergency inpatients, hospital blocked beds and hospital full capacity stretchers in use. Admission diagnoses of pneumonia and delirium were associated with emergency department length of stay only, while daily number of internal medicine admissions and admission shift was associated with BWT only. Mortality, intensive care unit transfers and inpatient length of stay were not associated with prolonged wait times. Overall general internal medicine patients experienced significant access block. Isolation exerted the most influence on prolonging wait times. Capacity factors did not exert as much influence as anticipated, possibly due to very high occupancy rates.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • General internal medicine
  • Access block
  • Emergency department wait times
  • Emergency department overcrowding

• Graduation date

  Spring 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Nursing

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3R12S

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.