Parkview Noble Hospital is pleased to have the opportunity to provide you with healthcare information that we hope will be beneficial. Periodically, we will be informing you about the many issues patients face each day in hospitals.
One area of healthcare that we are frequently asked about is Emergency Care. At Parkview Noble Hospital, we treat nearly 20,000 people in our Emergency Department (ED) every year. So I thought that would be a good starting point for this commentary.
One thing we recognize about emergency care is that expectations of patients and their family members differ greatly. I hope that the following information concerning Emergency Department care might help answer questions for members of our community who find themselves faced with an unexpected trip to the ED.
1) What is triage? Upon arrival, every patient is seen by a triage nurse. This process allows the ED staff to determine who needs to be seen first based on symptoms, vital signs and patient health history. ED patients are seen in a timely manner with the most serious patients (those experiencing conditions such as heart attack, stroke or critical injuries) being the top priority.
2) Why do patients wait in the ER? Generally, patients coming into the Parkview Noble Hospital ED are in and out within two hours. The Emergency staff works very hard to minimize patient wait times but sometimes waiting is necessary. Situations that require laboratory or radiological tests that need further review or consultations by the ED physician with surgeons or internists may contribute to a patient having to wait. An empty waiting area doesn't mean the ED isn't busy. We try as quickly as we can to place patients immediately in each of our 12 individual ED exam rooms for their privacy. But, occasionally patients wait when they come to the ED at a peak time when there are more patients than ED exam rooms.
3) Who will take care of me? The ED at Parkview Noble is staffed 24-hours a day, seven days a week by emergency trained physicians, nurses, technicians and registrars who will tend to your needs; and provide you with the appropriate and necessary exams, tests, treatment and medication that you need to begin your recovery. At peak times, there is a physician assistant to help in providing specialty ED services such as wound and laceration care. And of course, Parkview Noble has ancillary departments available for diagnostic testing as well as inpatient services, should an ED patient need to be admitted to the hospital.
4) What happens when you are ready to go home? A nurse will carefully review written discharge instructions with each patient, giving them information on how to care for themselves and what medication to take if necessary. Each patient is also given a phone number to call if they have a question or problem once they are home. All patients are encouraged to ask questions of their care team during the discharge process.
There are many complexities to a full service emergency department such as the one located here in Kendallville. The goal at Parkview Noble Hospital is to provide excellent care to every patient every time. Our staff and doctors work very hard to assure that the care given to every patient is of the highest quality and standards.
I look forward to offering more healthcare information in the future. Please feel free to contact me if you have a healthcare question or concern that you would like to see addressed via this forum.
David C. Hunter is Chief Operating Office for Parkview Noble Hospital in Kendallville, IN. He can be reached at dave.hunter@parkview.com.