THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF NURSES IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT: A STUDY IN SELECTED HOSPITALS IN THE VOLTA REGION OF GHANA

ABSTRACT Emergency care is care that must be rendered without delay. Though today’s nurses in emergency departments (ED) are faced with many challenges, little time is spent in teaching or learning the content of emergency nursing care during the basic, master’s or doctoral level nursing education program. The purpose of this research was to explore the lived experiences of nurses working in EDs in selected hospitals in the Volta Region of Ghana. The study is a qualitative research in which a phenomenological design was used. Purposive sampling technique was applied in selecting the hospitals and participants for the study. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview of 15 professional nurses who worked in EDs of selected hospitals in the Volta Region. Demographic results revealed 73.3 percent of respondents were between 25 to 29 years. Only 6.7 percent of respondents used knowledge of critical care nursing to practice emergency care in ED. Six thematic categories emerged after content analysis: encountering challenges in ED; ED as a place of learning and increased confidence for nurses; feelings of stress and joy in ED; social and physical consequences of ED on the life of nurses working in ED; nurses taking up jobs in ED that are inconsistent with their job description; clients receiving low quality care in ED. Formal education of nurses in the advance role of emergency care nursing is necessary to improve the practice of emergency care..