When the emergency department is overcrowded, emergency medicine residents see fewer patients and perform fewer procedures but do not perceive a lower educational value than when the ED is not overcrowded, according to a study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Researchers studied the behavior and perceptions of second- and third-year EM residents from March 2009 to May 2009. During ED overcrowding, defined as more than two hours of ambulance diversion per shift, residents saw 12.3 patients compared with 13.9 when it was not overcrowded. Residents performed an average of 0.9 procedures when the ED was overcrowded compared with 1.3 when not overcrowded. However, there was no significant difference in perceptions of educational value.
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Researchers studied the behavior and perceptions of second- and third-year EM residents from March 2009 to May 2009. During ED overcrowding, defined as more than two hours of ambulance diversion per shift, residents saw 12.3 patients compared with 13.9 when it was not overcrowded. Residents performed an average of 0.9 procedures when the ED was overcrowded compared with 1.3 when not overcrowded. However, there was no significant difference in perceptions of educational value.
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