Designing Worthy Waiting Spaces: A Cross-Cultural Study of Waiting Room Features and Their Impact on Women's Affective States.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the impact of ambulatory waiting room characteristics on patients' emotional states and investigates whether these states are universally experienced or influenced by social and cultural factors among women aged 18-35 from the three largest demographic groups in the United States: Black, Hispanic/Latina, and White. BACKGROUND: Patients typically spend more time waiting for routine medical appointments than receiving care, and evidence suggests that waiting can reinforces power dynamics that benefit privileged groups, leading to different experiences for minority women seeking preventative care. Still, literature addressing the impact of waiting areas is largely limited to universal measures, and little is known about how different ethnic/race groups respond to waiting spaces. METHODS: This inquiry used a questionnaire assessing 15 waiting room characteristics and testing four variables (furniture arrangement, room-scale, color saturation, and quantity of positive distractions) in a 2 × 3 quasiexperiment using a fractional randomized block design with 24 waiting room images. FINDINGS: Responses from 1,114 participants revealed mutual preferences for sociopetal seating, positive distractions, neutral colors, and welcoming and calming environments. Yet, Black participants indicated significantly greater importance in seeing ethnically/racially similar patients and healthcare providers and strategies that promote transparency, including image-based provider directories and views into the clinic. CONCLUSION: By investigating the impact of the waiting room environment on patient affect and comparing perceptions across three demographic groups of women, this study offers insights into potential strategies for improving access to preventative care services by creating more welcoming ambulatory care waiting environments.

Exploring potential barriers in equitable access to pediatric diagnostic imaging using machine learning.

In this work, we examine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US) appointments at the Diagnostic Imaging (DI) department of a pediatric hospital to discover possible relationships between selected patient features and no-show or long waiting room time endpoints. The chosen features include age, sex, income, distance from the hospital, percentage of non-English speakers in a postal code, percentage of single caregivers in a postal code, appointment time slot (morning, afternoon, evening), and day of the week (Monday to Sunday). We trained univariate Logistic Regression (LR) models using the training sets and identified predictive (significant) features that remained significant in the test sets. We also implemented multivariate Random Forest (RF) models to predict the endpoints. We achieved Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC) of 0.82 and 0.73 for predicting no-show and long waiting room time endpoints, respectively. The univariate LR analysis on DI appointments uncovered the effect of the time of appointment during the day/week, and patients' demographics such as income and the number of caregivers on the no-shows and long waiting room time endpoints. For predicting no-show, we found age, time slot, and percentage of single caregiver to be the most critical contributors. Age, distance, and percentage of non-English speakers were the most important features for our long waiting room time prediction models. We found no sex discrimination among the scheduled pediatric DI appointments. Nonetheless, inequities based on patient features such as low income and language barrier did exist.

Does Perceived Control Matter in the Outpatient Waiting Room?

OBJECTIVE: The study examined perceived control in the context of the outpatient waiting room to further understand the extent to which patients want to exercise control in that environment. Background: In Ulrich's theory of supportive design, research shows more evidence for positive distraction and social support than for perceived control; its role in outpatient settings has not been examined. METHOD: This between-subjects experimental design, in which participants read a written scenario varying the number of patients waiting (1 or 5) and the control available (no information provided, personal controls, and room controls), examined the effect of those variables on stress, satisfaction with the environment, extent of perceived control, and participants' schema of who should control the environment of the waiting room. RESULTS: Having individual controls available in the waiting room favorably impacted the perception of the environment but did not significantly impact stress. The data show that people likely have a schema of appropriate behavior in a doctor's waiting room, which does not encourage manipulation of environmental elements. CONCLUSIONS: In the doctor's office waiting room, having individual controls, such as on-off knobs on table lamps next to each chair, can improve evaluation of the environment and increase people's perception of control.

Novel Application of Dot Survey Methodology at a Youth Health Clinic: A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE: We tested a novel dot survey methodology at our clinic that provides sexual health services to youth ages 13 to 24. We conducted two interactive dot surveys to assess their feasibility and acceptability while gaining insight into patients' attitudes about mental health. METHODS: We adapted a dot survey approach to assess youths' familiarity with mental health and attitudes toward related services. We also assessed their attitudes toward participating in this survey method. All patients with scheduled appointments were eligible to participate. Participants used dot stickers to indicate their responses on survey posters displayed in the waiting room. RESULTS: Three hundred patients participated between June and September 2021 (150 participants/survey). About 95% of participants liked seeing others' responses to the dot surveys, and over 70% reported that the surveys made them think more about mental health. Over 90% would participate in future dot surveys at the clinic. Survey items with the most consensus among participants included that 74.5% "really agree" youth face barriers to accessing mental health services (n = 141, mean = 4.61, standard deviation = 0.79) and 87.1% "really agree" primary care providers should ask youth about their mental health (n = 139, mean = 4.81, standard deviation = 0.59). DISCUSSION: The dot surveys were effective at assessing patients' attitudes about mental health and feasible to conduct in our waiting room. Results confirmed that this survey method was well received among patients. Dot surveys can be adapted by other clinical settings to engage youth regarding their health-related attitudes.

Impact of promoting blood donation in general practice: Prospective study among blood donors in France.

Introduction: Waiting rooms in general practitioners' (GP) surgeries are a potentially useful site for spreading educational messages about health behaviors. We aimed to evaluate the impact of posters displayed in GPs' waiting rooms on the number of donors attending the blood donation drives in the Aube Department of France. The secondary objective was to identify self-reported factors that incited people to give blood among donors who did and donors who did not see the posters. Methods: Observational, multicenter, prospective study, from 1 June to 31 December 2021. Six blood donation centers in the Aube Department were selected. All GPs located within a 15 km radius around each center were invited to participate by hanging posters advertising blood drives in their waiting rooms. The number of blood donations per hour was measured before and during the campaign. Factors prompting people to give blood were evaluated by questionnaires completed by persons attending the blood drives. Results: 33 GPs participated. The number of donations per hour was lower in the year in which the posters were displayed (2021) compared to the previous year (12 vs. 15). A total of 1,469 questionnaires were completed by blood donors: 729 reported having seen the posters, and 740 reported not having seen the posters. Those who claimed to have seen the posters were more likely than those who claimed not to have seen the posters to respond that in parallel, they had been prompted to give blood via online publicity (7.5 vs. 3.9%, adjusted Odds ratio [aOR] 1.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-2.82, p = 0.02). They also more often reported that they had been prompted to donate by television advertisements (8.0 vs. 4.2%, aOR 1.74, 95%CI 1.10-2.76, p = 0.02). Overall, 68% of all respondents indicated that posters in the GP's waiting room would incite them to give blood more often. Conclusion: The number of blood donations per hour was lower during the year in which posters were displayed. Questionnaire data from donors suggests that promoting blood donation via posters in GPs' waiting rooms could have a positive effect: 68% of donors claimed that posters would incite them to give blood.

Using a human-centered, mixed methods approach to understand the patient waiting experience and its impact on medically underserved Populations.

PURPOSE: To use a mixed methods approach to investigate the patient waiting experience for a medically underserved population at an outpatient surgical clinic. METHODS: We used lean methodology to perform 96 time-tracked observations of the patient journey in clinic, documenting the duration of activities from arrival to departure. We also used human-centered design (HCD) to perform and analyze 43 semi-structured interviews to understand patients' unmet needs. RESULTS: Patients spent an average of 68.5% of their total clinic visit waiting to be seen. While the average visit was 95.8 minutes, over a quarter of visits (27%) were over 2 hours. Patients waited an average of 24.4 minutes in the waiting room and 41.2 minutes in the exam room; and only spent 19.7% of their visit with an attending provider and 11.8% with a medical assistant. Interviews revealed that patients arrive to their visit already frustrated due to difficulties related to scheduling and attending their appointment. This is exacerbated during the visit due to long wait times, perceived information opacity, and an uncomfortable waiting room, resulting in frustration and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: While time tracking demonstrated that patients spend a majority of their visit waiting to be seen, HCD revealed that patient frustrations span the waiting experience from accessing the appointment to visit completion. These combined findings are crucial for intervention design and implementation for medically underserved populations to improve the quality and experience with healthcare and also address system inefficiencies such as long wait times.

2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines.

PRACTICAL RELEVANCE: The '2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines' (hereafter the 'Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines') describe how the veterinary clinic environment can be manipulated to minimise feline patient distress. Many components of a veterinary clinic visit or stay may result in negative experiences for cats. However, much can be done to improve a cat's experience by making the veterinary clinic more cat friendly. Exposure to other cats and other species can be reduced, and adjustments made with consideration of the feline senses and species-specific behaviour. Caregivers can prepare cats for a clinic visit with appropriate advice. Waiting rooms, examination rooms, hospital wards and other clinic areas can be designed and altered to reduce stress and hence encourage positive emotions. Changes need not be structural or expensive in order to be effective and make a difference to the cats and, in turn, to cat caregivers and the veterinary team. Moreover, by improving the all-round experience at the veterinary clinic, there are positive effects on preventive healthcare, identification of and recovery from illness, and compliance with treatment. CLINICAL CHALLENGES: Good feline healthcare necessitates visiting the veterinary clinic, which, simply by being outside of a cat's territory and familiar surroundings, may lead to negative experiences. Such experiences can trigger negative (protective) emotions and associated physiological stress, which can result in misleading clinical findings, patient distress, prolonged recovery from illness, further difficulties with handling at subsequent visits and potential veterinary personnel injury. There may be a mistaken belief that veterinary clinics must undergo significant renovation or building work to become cat friendly, and that, if species cannot be separated, then clinics cannot improve their care of cats. These Guidelines aim to dispel any such misconceptions and provide detailed practical advice. EVIDENCE BASE: These Guidelines have been created by a Task Force of experts convened by the International Society of Feline Medicine and American Association of Feline Practitioners, based on an extensive literature review and, where evidence is lacking, the authors' experience. Endorsements: These Guidelines have been endorsed by a number of groups and organisations, as detailed on page 1161 and at icatcare.org/cat-friendly-guidelines and catvets.com/environment.

Attitudes, attributions, and usage patterns of primary care patients with regard to over-the-counter drugs-a survey in Germany.

Studies show that over-the-counter drugs are widely used by consumers. Moreover, there is a huge selection available and they are prominently featured in advertising. To date, there exist only a few studies that shed light on the attitudes, attributions, and usage patterns of patients with regard to use of over-the-counter drugs. An anonymized explorative waiting room survey was conducted among 900 patients in 60 GP practices in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Rhineland-Palatinate. As well as the descriptive analysis, a t test was applied to independent random samples, in order to identify significant differences between two groups. 65% of respondents reported using over-the-counter drugs frequently or occasionally. With regard to effects, risks, and side effects, 54% state that they usually take advice from their GP and/or pharmacist before purchasing or taking over-the-counter preparations. For 56%, the package information leaflet is a frequent source of information about the over-the-counter drugs used. The respondents consider over-the-counter preparations to be particularly suitable for (preventive) treatment of colds, flu symptoms, and pain management. The widespread perception of over-the-counter drugs as simple to use (62%), low-dose (69%), and low-efficacy (73%) products does not always correspond to the actual capabilities and risks of over-the-counter self-medication. Given the easy availability of over-the-counter drugs and their strong presence in advertising, it is important that patients have a realistic idea of the capabilities and risks of over-the-counter products. In addition to the advice provided by pharmacists, the trusting, long-standing support provided by GPs and their ongoing information and advice services play a central role in this. It would be advisable to give more attention to this public health concern and to promote initiatives to make patients more aware of the risks regarding consumption of drugs without medical consultation.

Seating in Doctors' Waiting Rooms: Has COVID-19 Changed Our Choices?

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates preference for five different seating arrangements (e.g., rows, clusters) in a doctor's office waiting room, whether these reduce stress and improve judgments of medical care, and how such choices may have changed over the pandemic (2013 vs. 2021). BACKGROUND: What is called the doctor's office layout, with chairs lining the perimeter of the waiting room, is criticized by designers, yet little empirical evidence exists to support that assessment. METHOD: Data collected in 2013 and 2021 used sketches of five different seating arrangements; people saw just one of these. The study examined the effect of time and seating arrangement on anxiety, need for privacy, situational awareness, evaluation of the environment, and perception of the doctor. RESULTS: There was no significant impact of the seating arrangement on any of the dependent variables, but ratings were higher for situational awareness, need for privacy, evaluation of the environment, and aspects related to the physician in 2021. In addition, seating preferences favored end, not middle seats, and chair selections with the chair back to a wall. CONCLUSION: In this study, no evidence exists that the doctor's office layout is less preferred than four other seating arrangements, but seat choice shows people prefer end seats (not middle seats) across arrangements. The doctor's office layout may offer a supportive familiarity to people; also, given the percentage of people who visit the doctor unaccompanied, layouts designed to encourage social interaction may not always be appropriate.

Measures of Emergency Department Crowding, a Systematic Review. How to Make Sense of a Long List.

Emergency department (ED) crowding, a common and serious phenomenon in many countries, lacks standardized definition and measurement methods. This systematic review critically analyzes the most commonly studied ED crowding measures. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We searched PubMed/Medline Database for all studies published in English from January 1st, 1990, until December 1st, 2020. We used the National Institute of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment Tool to grade the included studies. The initial search yielded 2293 titles and abstracts, of whom we thoroughly reviewed 109 studies, then, after adding seven additional, included 90 in the final analysis. We excluded simple surveys, reviews, opinions, case reports, and letters to the editors. We included relevant papers published in English from 1990 to 2020. We did not grade any study as poor and graded 18 as fair and 72 as good. Most studies were conducted in the USA. The most studied crowding measures were the ED occupancy, the ED length of stay, and the ED volume. The most heterogeneous crowding measures were the boarding time and number of boarders. Except for the National ED Overcrowding Scale (NEDOCS) and the Emergency Department Work Index (EDWIN) scores, the studied measures are easy to calculate and communicate. Quality of care was the most studied outcome. The EDWIN and NEDOCS had no studies with the outcome mortality. The ED length of stay had no studies with the outcome perception of care. ED crowding was often associated with worse outcomes: higher mortality in 45% of the studies, worse quality of care in 75%, and a worse perception of care in 100%. The ED occupancy, ED volume, and ED length of stay are easy to measure, calculate and communicate, are homogenous in their definition, and were the most studied measures.

Perceived Usability of Seating in an Outpatient Waiting Area: A Combined Approach Utilizing Virtual Reality and Actual Seating Prototypes.

OBJECTIVE: This study proposed a combined methodology to evaluate the perceived usability of healthcare seats that were first selected in a virtual waiting room which provided the context of use for the seats. BACKGROUND: There has been an increased interest in using virtual reality (VR) for evaluation of seating in interior environments. Although VR offers a less expensive approach compared to evaluating seats in situ, using VR has limitations as users cannot experience the actual seat prototypes. METHOD: Participants (N = 92) experienced a virtual waiting room with various seat groupings and were prompted with four task-based scenarios through which they selected a seat. After the VR phase, they experienced their selected seats in a lab and used an online questionnaire to evaluate the seating. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to garner similarities and differences in participants' experience of virtual and real seats. RESULTS: Three categories including comfort, support, and flexibility were extracted from the questionnaire. While support and comfort categories were highly ranked by participants, the category rankings varied depending on participants' age, gender, tasks, and seat types. Interviews revealed that there were differences in experience of the seating materials in VR versus reality, and therefore experiencing the real seats was useful in seating evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the combined methodology using VR and real seating in a lab is a reliable tool for designers and furniture manufacturers to obtain users' perceived usability evaluation of seating during the design process while the actual context is absent.

Evidence-Based Design for Waiting Space Environment of Pediatric Clinics-Three Hospitals in Shenzhen as Case Studies.

This study explores the waiting space environment of pediatric clinics in general hospitals and the relationships between the use of space, behavioral activities and overall satisfaction. Patients often spend a lot of time waiting for doctors, and child patients waiting to be seen are particularly likely to feel bored, depressed and anxious, which negatively affects their overall experience of seeking medical attention. Since the launch of China's second-child policy, the number of children born in China has surged. As medical resources for children are in short supply and of uneven quality, it is urgently necessary to carry out research on optimizing the design of children's waiting space in Chinese hospitals to improve their medical environment and experience. METHOD: This study identified four first-level indicators and twenty-seven second-level indicators in four dimensions: functional layout (layout and area), flow organization, supporting facilities and environmental details (physical and landscape environment). The research combined subjective and objective methods, including comprehensive observation, a questionnaire survey and interviews, taking three hospitals in Shenzhen as case studies. RESULTS: The study found that the waiting space in pediatric clinics currently fails to meet key patient needs in areas such as mother and infant rooms, children's play areas and drinking water facilities, and there are widespread problems with the creation of natural environments, such as views of natural scenery from windows and indoor green plants. Six factors were found to significantly positively influence overall satisfaction with waiting space, describing 69.76% of the changes in the respondents' degree of satisfaction with the waiting environment. Supporting facilities and aspects of the physical environment had the greatest influence on overall satisfaction with the waiting space. CONCLUSION: Optimizing the design of the waiting space in pediatric clinics, with a focus on functional layout, flow organization, supporting facilities and environmental details, can improve overall satisfaction with pediatric waiting rooms. The results are preliminary; they need to be further tested in practice to complete the process of evidence-based design. This will lead to suggestions for refining the design of pediatric waiting units which can be used by architects and hospital administrators.

Exploration and model development for emergency department waiting room nurse role: Synthesis of a three-phase sequential mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: To improve flow and care in waiting rooms, some emergency departments introduced a specific nursing role to care for this patient cohort with the aim of commencing interventions early, improving patient safety by reassessing and enhancing communication. The objective of the research was to explore to what extent does qualitative interviews and quantitative survey contribute to describing emergency department waiting room nurses, through integration and synthesis of findings from a multiphase mixed methods study. METHODS: Multiphase mixed methods exploratory sequential design with integration of findings. Data integration occurred during the phases and when assimilating all findings. FINDINGS: Experienced emergency nurses, preferably with graduate qualifications, who are autonomous practitioners with highly developed communication skills, clinical decision making and proficiency in assessment and monitoring are required to perform the role. The waiting room nurse provides patient-centered care and ensures safe, timely care is delivered to those in the waiting room. A standardised approach and high risk of exposure to occupational stressors need to be considered. CONCLUSIONS: This mixed methods sequential design explored the waiting room nurse role from the perspective of emergency nurses generating new knowledge into the role. This advanced practice nursing role contributes to patient safety and delivery of patient centred care in the emergency department waiting room.

Getting Rid of Patient's Misconceptions About the Radiology Department Using Animated Video in the Waiting Room.

OBJECTIVES: Patients often confuse the role of the radiologist with that of the technician. The aim of this study is to explore patients' current perceptions about the radiology department and to evaluate how it's possible to get rid of misconceptions using informative animated video in the waiting room. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this multi-centric study (UZ Leuven, ZNA Middelheim), 278 patients of all ages and education levels were surveyed in the radiology waiting room. 107 patients filled out the survey after watching an informative animated video (www.makeradiologyvisible.com). The remaining patients did not watch the video. RESULTS: Half of the patients (86/171) in the non-video group believe the radiologist "performs the scanning", compared to 19% (20/107) in the video group (p < 0.001). Patients who think their own physician will interpret the images is 36% (61/171) in the non-video group and 10% (11/107) in the video group (p < 0.001). In the non-video group, 32% (55/171) believe the technician performs the exam compared to 59% (63/107) in the video group (p < 0.001). After the video, 67% (72/107) of patients have more respect for the work of the radiologist, 52% (56/107) experience less anxiety and 65% (70/107) think the video is of added value to their visit. All items showed a better impact in high-educational subgroups. CONCLUSION: Animated informative videos help to increase patient knowledge about the radiology department. It moderates expectations, reduces anxiety, and ameliorates the overall experience. Although, the learning curve is steeper in highly educated patients, all educational levels benefit.

Improving Health Literacy Responsiveness: A Randomized Study on the Uptake of Brochures on Doctor-Patient Communication in Primary Health Care Waiting Rooms.

Presenting attractive and useful health education materials in waiting rooms can help improve an organization's health literacy responsiveness. However, it is unclear to what extent patients may be interested in health education materials, such as brochures. We conducted a three-week field study in waiting rooms of three primary care centers in Groningen. Three versions of a brochure on doctor-patient communication were randomly distributed, 2250 in total. One version contained six short photo stories, another version was non-narrative but contained comparable photos, and the third version was a traditional brochure. Each day we counted how many brochures were taken. We also asked patients (N = 471) to participate in a brief interview. Patients who consented (N = 390) were asked if they had noticed the brochure. If yes (N = 135), they were asked why they had or had not browsed the brochure, and why they had or had not taken it. Interview responses were categorized by two authors. Only 2.9% of the brochures were taken; no significant association with brochure version was found. Analysis of the interview data showed that the version with the photo narrative was noticed significantly more often than the non-narrative version or the traditional version. These results suggest that designing attractive and comprehensible health materials is not enough. Healthcare organizations should also create effective strategies to reach their target population.

The impact of humanoid robot presence in the paediatric emergency department waiting room: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The waiting room represents families' first point of contact with the emergency department (ED). We wished to study if a humanoid robot technology presence in the waiting room would improve satisfaction and decrease anxiety for caregivers in the paediatric ED. METHODS: This observational cohort study was conducted from September to December 2018 at a Canadian paediatric ED. All caregivers and children >11 years in the ED waiting room were eligible. We compared a robotic intervention (RI) to standard of care (SOC) education in the waiting room. The RI was a 5-minute psychoeducational program describing the ED process and flow. Specific days were designated for RI or SOC. An anonymous survey was administered twice, at the same times, on both SOC and RI days. The primary outcomes were (a) caregiver satisfaction with waiting room experience using a 5-point Likert scale; and (b) caregiver-reported anxiety in the waiting room, as measured by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory - State Scale. RESULTS: Six hundred and thirty-three caregivers participated, with a median age of 37 years (IQR 32 to 42); 80 children participated, with a median age of 15 years (IQR 13 to 16). Caregivers reported greater overall satisfaction in the RI cohort (174/200, 87.0%) compared to the SOC cohort (144/229, 62.9%; P<0.0001). Caregivers also reported lower anxiety in the RI cohort (39.38±11.38) compared to the SOC cohort (42.04±11.99; P=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: A humanoid robot-based psycho educational intervention in the paediatric ED waiting room has a positive impact on caregiver satisfaction and anxiety.

Health Literacy in Hospital Outpatient Waiting Areas: An Observational Study of What Is Available to and Accessed by Consumers.

AIM: To investigate: (1) the types of health information, resources, and supports available to consumers in hospital outpatient waiting areas and (2) whether these are accessed by consumers. BACKGROUND: Outpatient waiting areas commonly offer health information, resources, and supports to improve the health literacy of waiting consumers. It is not known what is available to or accessed by consumers in hospital outpatient rehabilitation waiting areas. METHODS: A multicenter, prospective, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in the waiting areas of two hospital outpatient rehabilitation services. Direct observations (in person and video recordings) of the waiting areas were used to describe what health information, resources, and supports were available and, if present, what was being accessed and for how long by consumers. RESULTS: Fifteen hours of in-person and video-recorded observations were documented on purpose-designed instruments across the two sites during 18 observation sessions over 8 days. A total of 68 different health information and resources were identified. Approximately half were specifically for consumers (Site 1: 57%; Site 2: 53%). Only seven (10%) were accessed by consumers across both sites. Each resource (n = 7) was only accessed once. Health resources were used by consumers for 0.8% (3/360 min) of the observation time at each site. Health and social supports and use of other non health resources were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: Available health information, resources, and supports were infrequently and briefly accessed by consumers. Further research is required to explore what consumers want and need to improve the health literacy responsiveness of hospital outpatient waiting areas.

Evaluating Care Partner Preferences for Seating in an Outpatient Surgery Waiting Area Using Virtual Reality.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the factors impacting seating choices of care partners while conducting common tasks in an outpatient surgical center waiting room. BACKGROUND: Waiting rooms in healthcare environments have been previously studied to understand how factors such as aesthetics, privacy, comfort, and positive distractions impact user perception of quality of care. Although care partners of patients often spend long hours in the surgical waiting rooms, no studies have addressed users' seat type and location preferences in waiting areas. METHODS: In this study, 92 participants made seat selections while performing scenario-based tasks in a virtual waiting area. A mixed-methods approach including a survey and semi-structured interviews was utilized to capture participants' feedback on how certain factors (e.g., visibility, accessibility, privacy, comfort, and aesthetic quality) impacted their choices. RESULTS: The optimal seat location and type in the waiting area varied depending on the type of task care partners were engaged in. While being able to sit with their loved one was the most important factor influencing seat selection during patient check-in, seat location was the most important factor in all other scenarios. The importance of factors such as seat comfort, seat type, visual and auditory privacy, and visibility to registration area varied across scenarios. However, the visual appearance of the seating remained equally important across all scenarios. CONCLUSIONS: The use of different scenarios allowed users to identify their preferences regarding seating within the context of their specific needs at different points in the waiting process.

Análise de narrativas produzidas por estudantes de Medicina por meio da distribuição de pílulas literárias em uma sala de espera / Analysis of narratives produced by medical students from the distribution of literary pills in a waiting room / Análisis de narrativas producidas por estudiantes de Medicina a partir de la distribución de píldoras literarias en una sala de espera

Os autores apresentam e discutem uma atividade do projeto de extensão Prescrevendo Histórias: desenvolvimento de competência narrativa em estudantes de Medicina, da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. O foco do artigo é a descrição da metodologia desenvolvida: distribuição de pílulas literárias na sala de espera de um ambulatório e produção de narrativas por meio da experiência, bem como sua análise. O artigo está dividido em seções. Inicialmente são apresentados a dinâmica de desenvolvimento da atividade e o procedimento metodológico engendrado para a análise do material produzido por encontros virtuais do grupo. A seguir, é abordada a análise das 25 narrativas, com destaque para as temáticas, os recursos linguísticos e as vozes presentes. Os autores concluem que o recurso didático-pedagógico apresentado possibilitou a incorporação de valores humanísticos à formação dos estudantes de Medicina. (AU)

The authors present and discuss an activity of the extension project "Prescribing stories: development of narrative competence in medical students, from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil". The focus of the article is the description of the developed methodology: distribution of literary pills in the waiting room of an outpatient clinic and production of narratives from this experience, as well as the analysis of the created narratives. The article is divided into sections. Initially, the dynamics of the activity's development and the methodological procedure conceived for the analysis of the analysis of the material produced are presented, based on virtual group meetings. Then, the analysis of the 25 narratives is addressed, emphasizing their voices, themes and linguistic resources The authors conclude that the in question didactic-pedagogical resource enabled the incorporation of humanistic values in the education of medical students. (AU)

Los autores presentan y discuten una actividad del proyecto de expansión Prescribiendo historias: desarrollo de competencia narrativa en estudiantes de medicina, de la Universidad del Estado de Río de Janeiro, Brasil. El enfoque del artículo es la descripción de la metodología desarrollada: distribución de píldoras literarias en la sala de espera de un ambulatorio y producción de narrativas a partir de la experiencia, así como de su análisis. El artículo se divide en secciones. Inicialmente se presentan la dinámica de desarrollo de la actividad y el procedimiento metodológico engendrado para el análisis del material producido, a partir de encuentros virtuales del grupo. A seguir, se aborda el análisis de las 25 narrativas, con destaque para las temáticas, los recursos lingüísticos y las voces presentes. Los autores concluyen que el recurso didáctico-pedagógico presentado posibilitó la incorporación de valores humanísticos a la formación de los estudiantes de Medicina. (AU)

The impact of hospital boarding on the emergency department waiting room.

BACKGROUND: Patient boarding in the emergency department (ED) is a significant issue leading to increased morbidity/mortality, longer lengths of stay, and higher hospital costs. We examined the impact of boarding patients on the ED waiting room. Additionally, we determined whether facility type, patient acuity, time of day, or hospital occupancy impacted waiting rooms in 18 EDs across a large healthcare system. METHODS: This was a retrospective multicenter study that included all ED encounters between January 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019. Encounters with missing Emergency Severity Index (ESI) level were excluded. ESI levels were defined as high (ESI 1,2), middle (ESI 3), and low (ESI 4,5). Spearman correlation coefficients measured the relationship between boarded patients and number of patients in ED waiting room. A multivariable mixed effects model identified drivers of this relationship. RESULTS: A total of 1,134,178 encounters were included. Spearman correlation coefficient was significant between number of patients in the ED waiting room and patient boarding (0.54). For every additional patient boarded/hour, the number of patients waiting/hour in the waiting room increased by 8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08-1.09). The number of patients waiting for a room/hour was 2.28 times higher for middle than for high acuity. The number of patients in waiting room slightly decreased as hospital occupancy increased (95% CI = 0.997-0.997). CONCLUSION: Number of patients in ED waiting room are directly related to boarding times and hospital occupancy. ED waiting room times should be considered as not just an ED operational issue, but an aspect of hospital throughput.