Assessment of Emergency Department Satisfaction Level in Saudi Arabia General Hospital

Ahmed M Al-Wathinani; Saad Aldawsari; Mohammed Alhallaf; Yousef Alotaibi; Dhaifallah Alrazeeni; Mohammed M Ageli; Charles A Villanueva; Nawaf Albaqami

doi:10.4103/sja.sja_285_21

Assessment of Emergency Department Satisfaction Level in Saudi Arabia General Hospital

Saudi J Anaesth. 2022 Jan-Mar;16(1):4-9. doi: 10.4103/sja.sja_285_21. Epub 2022 Jan 4.

Authors

Ahmed M Al-Wathinani¹, Saad Aldawsari², Mohammed Alhallaf¹, Yousef Alotaibi¹, Dhaifallah Alrazeeni¹, Mohammed M Ageli³, Charles A Villanueva¹, Nawaf Albaqami¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medical Services, Prince Sultan College for EMS, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Health Administration, College of Business of Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Finance, College of Applied Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background and objectives: An overcrowded emergency department (ED) cannot meet the patients' growing demand. This situation harms employees' performance and, alternatively, causes anxiety and dissatisfaction among patients since the quality of healthcare outcomes fall below their expectations. This study aimed at improving and validating a scale for assessing patient satisfaction in the ED.

Methods: In this study, 134 participants from Wadi Al-Dawasir General Hospital were enrolled using a convenient sampling technique. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using 5-point Likert scales.

Results: All tested hypotheses showed statistical significance (P < 0.05). Our results show that male employees were more satisfied compared with their female counterparts. Furthermore, Saudi employees were more satisfied with the health services than non-Saudi ones.

Conclusion: The findings of this study brought to the fore that patients and their families were satisfied with the healthcare services and their quality. This means better service delivery played a crucial role in enhancing satisfaction levels. Nevertheless, this study also highlights that overcrowding is a significant problem for healthcare organizations. Wadi al-Dawasir General Hospital's ED should continually improve its quality to meet the growing needs of its clients.

Keywords: Emergency department; employee satisfaction; overcrowding; patient satisfaction; quality healthcare outcomes.