Exit Interview

1. What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?
1. What is the best way to minimize Emergency Department overcrowding?
2. Nurse hotlines, improved access to primary care, inpatient hallway boarding
3. My best answer is inpatient hallway boarding. It is very easy to implement and directly attacks the major cause of overcrowding: boarded patients. Both my interviews 3 and 4 cited this as one big way to fix overcrowding. Unlike my other answers, it does not take care away from those who use the ED as a source of primary care. 
2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
1. I originally found this answer from my third interviewee when he talked about moving patients up without an actual bed for them. I found a little bit of research about it then. I found quite a bit more when my fourth interviewee recommended that I look up the founder of the system for moving patients to inpatient hallways. I found quite a bit of research on the actual system, its success rates, and nurse views on the system. 
3. What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?
1. I think my biggest problem is getting other people to care about something that's so administrative. It isn't bloody and gory like most people think my topic would be. I also had a hard time finding time for mentorship. My mentor typically works nights which would be almost impossible for me to do during the week. I usually went in on Fridays or during the weekend. Once my EMT class started, though, I was unable to go to mentorship at all. Luckily I still got all the required hours done. 
2. Another problem I faced was getting interviews. People in Emergency Medicine are typically very busy with very abnormal schedules. Unfortunately, I was only able to do one interview in person. I wish they all could have been because I did feel like I got better information that way, but my interviews were still extremely helpful. 
4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
1. If I had to choose, I think my two most valuable were my last two interviews. They really set me on the path for my last two answers. They both recommended certain sources which assisted in my research. If I didn't have these interviews my answers would have been totally different. 
2. I don't feel like those two interviews were what really made or broke my project, though. I found that people, such as Dr. Richards, Dr. Viccellio, Dr. Pines, and Dr. Derlet, were really my best sources. They all published great articles that really helped me understand overcrowding and then figure out my answers. If I never found them my project wouldn't have a leg to stand on.