The Impact of Emergency Department (ED) Worker Shortage on Patient Quality of Life

Abstract

The shortage of primary care providers in sections of emergency departments (EDs) has had far-reaching implications on the quality and quantity of service provided. Whereas the need to foster patient satisfaction has been a key objective at the local, state, and national levels, the challenge of physician shortage has proved to be detrimental. Some of the impacts of the shortage have been documented to include overcrowding in hallways, burnout, and dissatisfaction among sections of patient groups. As such, it is recommended that the US government’s healthcare authorities engage in the establishment of a balanced ratio between physicians and the number of patients admitted in the ED departments. Apart from the revision of the existing physician-to-patient ratios in its states, there is a need for the US government to promote an equitable distribution of human resources in different healthcare organizations’ ED sections at the national, local and state levels.