Witnessing the distress of fellow patients in an Acute Medicine Unit 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Witnessing the Distress of Fellow Patients: A Phenomenological Study of Patients in an Acute Medicine.
IRAS ID
223378
Contact name
Diane Phimister
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Coventry University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 29 days
Research summary
The purpose of this project is to develop a better understanding of how it feels to be a patient bearing witness to events affecting fellow patients in a busy Acute Medicine (AMU) Unit in a UK NHS hospital. The patients in this environment are usually in the process of being assessed and can vary greatly in severity of illness and presentation. It is not uncommon for more acutely ill patients to collapse or even die in this department, and it is very likely that some, or all of these events are watched or heard by fellow patients. This project aims to explore the impact of such events on fellow patients in this busy environment, to understand how to improve their experience and to ensure that the hospital environment does not have any ongoing psychological impact after discharge.
The aim will be to conduct in depth interviews with adult patients (1 interview per participant) who have been admitted to AMU. These interviews will be audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim in order that the content can be carefully and systematically analysed in accordance with a process described as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).
It is hoped that this study will give some insight into patient experience in this busy environment to enable clinical staff to make changes. Possible outcomes include:
• Improving the process within the unit by taking greater care about the positioning of acutely unwell patients.
• Contributing to the body of knowledge about hospital design and layout.
• Including information about patient experience into education programs for clinical teams so that they have a greater awareness of the patients' psychological welfare.
• Considering ways to improve patient debriefing after a distressing event in the ward area, that does not compromise patient confidentiality.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0235
Date of REC Opinion
11 Aug 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion