急診檢傷分類等候制度與病人知覺等候時間之相關性研究──以某區域教學醫院為例

The Relationship Between a Triage System and Patients’ Perceived Waiting Time in a Regional Teaching Hospital Emergency Department

目的：現行檢傷分類制度之安全候診時間以病況為依據，未能考量病人之實際感受，而研究大都以急診實際等候時間為主，忽略知覺等候時間、負面情緒及等候資訊之重要性。據此，在目前制度下，本研究在於了解急診病人之實際等候時間、知覺等候時間、負面情緒及等候資訊之關係。方法：本研究於2012年1月至2月於個案醫院急診室以立意抽樣，利用電子碼錶於病人等候區內實地量測時間與問卷調查，有效樣本129份（回收率79.85％），使用SPSS18.0統計軟體進行分析與統計檢定。結果：本研究結果發現，實際等候時間平均等候時間為9.43分；經迴歸分析顯示實際等候時間、等候資訊能有效預測知覺等候時間，且知覺等候時間比實際等候時間還長。結論：急診病人之知覺感官應受重視，本研究認為醫院管理者應提供動態等候資訊及分散病人對等候時間注意之方法，以降低病人知覺等候時間感受。

Purposes: Safe waiting time in the current triage system is based on the state of illness instead of on patients’ actual feelings. The majority of studies on this topic have focused only on the actual emergency waiting time. This study examined the associations among actual waiting time, perceived waiting time, negative emotions, and information about waiting time in the current triage system. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted using the purposive sampling method in the emergency department of the case study hospital in January 2012. Patients’ actual waiting time was also measured on-site using an electronic stopwatch. A total of 129 responses were collected (response rate = 79.85%). The collected data were statistically analyzed using SPSS18.0. Results: The average actual waiting time was 9.43 minutes, and results from the regression analysis suggested that the actual waiting time and information about waiting time effectively predicted the perceived waiting time. The perceived waiting time was found to be longer than the actual waiting time. Conclusions: It is important to pay attention to emergency patients’ perceptions. Hospital administrators should provide ongoing information about the waiting time and divert patients’ attention from waiting in order to reduce their perceived waiting time.