Examining the Emergency Room Experience
October 15, 2024
Medical emergencies usually happen at the worst possible times. We tend to act instinctively, heading to the hospital without thinking about what is needed. An Emergency Room (ER) visit can be a scary, confusing, and often frustrating experience, but it doesn’t have to be. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the local Emergency Department BEFORE you need it, so that you can have the best possible outcome.
The Emergency Room of any hospital is commonly known as its “front door”. That’s because many people access the hospital’s services that way. According to Aimee Blum, Director of Patient Safety Quality, Canyon Vista Medical Center’s ER averages about 85 patients every day, with surges of more than 100 patients during the busy months, which starts in August and continues through the winter. Normally, patient volume slows during the summer, but this year has been unusually busy. Of those ER patients, around 10% will have a serious enough condition to be admitted into the hospital, with the rest being transferred or discharged.
It is important to understand that the staff in the emergency room will see you, regardless of the severity of your symptoms, your insurance status, or your ability to pay. Your medical care will be overseen either by an emergency physician or nurse practitioner, but a specialist may be called in for a consult, a specific treatment, or a trauma. If your problem is beyond their medical ability to treat, they will stabilize your condition as best as possible and transfer you to a hospital with a higher level of care. Most medical emergencies can be treated locally as CVMC is a Level III Trauma Center, specializing in treating patients with heart attacks or chest pain and is seeking Primary Stroke Center designation.
If you or a loved-one is experiencing a medical emergency, call 9-1-1. It is the fastest way to get lifesaving treatment from qualified emergency medical personnel and the safest way to get into the ER. Frequently, however, people use the emergency room for less than a medical emergency. However, people will find it is more expensive to go to the ER than if they went to their primary care provider or to an urgent care facility. And, yes, it often takes much longer to be seen. Patients who arrive at the ER are assessed during triage and treated based on the severity of their condition, not by the time they arrive. Thus, a non-emergency could take a very long time to be seen, depending on what the other patients are there for, or even what emergency may arrive after you are checked in. This is not apparent while in the waiting room and can be very frustrating.
Sometimes you may not know if something constitutes a medical emergency. See CVMC’s website at www.canyonvistamedicalcenter.com for excellent advice to help you understand which medical conditions should be seen immediately in the ER. For example, you can see when to be concerned about chest pain, what stroke and heart attack symptoms look like, what to bring with you on an ER visit, and even the current wait times. Visit the link below for these resources. You may want to keep a copy of updated medication lists, medical and immunization information in your cellphone, purse or car so you have access to it in an emergency. Having this information readily available will help the doctor and improve your ER visit, which is the number one priority of CVMC.
Amanda Mancini, Director of Emergency Services at Canyon Vista, described three of her immediate goals for the ER. “Becoming a Primary Stroke Center will ensure that we are providing the critical elements to achieve long- term success in improving outcomes for stroke patients,” she said. She is also laser focused on decreasing patient wait times. “In an effort to improve throughput we have adjusted our patient arrival process to streamline triage, and the medical screening exam completed by a provider. This will improve timeliness of patient treatment.”
Amanda recently implemented an exciting new ER program when she hired Kristina Perez as the new full-time “Care Navigator.” Having moved to Sierra Vista a couple of years ago from Phoenix, Kristina initially got a job at CVMC in Environmental Services. In that role, she found herself connecting with patients in both English and Spanish as she worked to sustain the highest sanitary conditions in people’s rooms. But she wanted to do more for the patients she met, to help them leave happy. When the job of Care Navigator was created, she applied.
The goals of the Care Navigator are to assist patients in obtaining follow-up appointments, as well as to receive real-time feedback of the patient’s experience in the ER. Kristina focuses heavily on patient advocacy with a personal touch: she meets with patients personally, listens to them, checks in with them after admission or after they’ve been discharged, and she connects them to the next provider in their healthcare journey. If you find yourself in the ER, look for Kristina. She can be reached at 520-263-2482, Monday through Friday, 8am-4pm. Having a dedicated Care Navigator has already made a positive impact on the ER experience for our patients.
Let’s talk for a minute about communication. When communicating with the emergency team, try to remain calm. Don’t be shy about asking questions. This is especially important when advocating on behalf of someone else, such as a child, elderly person, or non-English-speaker. Talk with the nurses and doctors who are caring for you, to ensure you understand your diagnosis and next steps.
Sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, there is a breakdown in communication which affects how you feel about your treatment. The staff would prefer to know your concerns while you are still in the hospital so that they can fix it on the spot. Ask to speak to the Charge Nurse so they can address your needs directly. Other in-hospital resources are the Care Navigator, the House Supervisor, or the Administrator-on-call (AOC). Many problems can often be easily remedied. Give the staff a chance to make your time in the ER as successful as possible by clearly stating your needs, asking your questions, and repeating their instructions.
If that does not work, you have the right to file an official complaint. The Grievance Manager can be reached at 520-263-3153. Your complaint will be reviewed and responded to within 7 days. You can also share your positive stories, either with a letter, a google review, or a phone call. If you receive a survey asking about patient experience, either in the mail, online, or by phone, please take a minute to complete and return it. Those surveys are your voice, and they help the hospital know where they are doing well or have opportunities to improve. Survey results are reviewed by the entire quality team, hospital leadership, and beyond.
We all hope to never have to visit the Emergency Room as a patient. But odds are that someday many of us will. I want you to be informed and helpful, empowered to participate in your own care plan, and able to support the doctors and nurses who will be providing your emergency care. This is what the staff at Canyon Vista Medical Center wants too. Together, we can work to achieve the best emergency care possible.
Ruth Quinn has been on the CVMC Board of Trustees for ten years (and counting), having served as Board Chair for the past six years. She is committed to helping CVMC’s mission of “Making Communities Healthier” by sharing the knowledge and experiences gained in that role with others in Cochise County.