Admissions to the Day Ward of the Accident and Emergency Department in Brunei Darussalam
- Author:
Sunil Kumar SHETTY
1
Author Information
1. Accident and Emergency Department, RIPAS Hospital, Brunei Darussalam
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Short stay ward;
observation ward;
outcomes;
admissions
- From:
Brunei International Medical Journal
2013;9(1):22-27
- CountryBrunei Darussalam
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Introduction: The Day Ward or Observation Ward is an essential part of an Accident and Emergency
Department (AED), and for the hospital as a whole. The Day Ward serves as an area where patients
can be observed and reviewed after a few hours, before decisions are made whether admissions are
required. This study was carried out to assess the profiles of admissions to the Day Ward of the AED of
RIPAS hospital and to assess the rate of admissions to the hospital.
Materials and Methods: A retro-
spective study on 4,459 patients who were admitted to the day ward of the AED, RIPAS Hospital from
1
st January to 30th June 2007 was carried out. The triage sheets were analysed. Data on the time from
triage to the time of admission/discharge, the presenting symptoms, and reasons for admissions to the
various wards were extracted.
Results: Close to 60,000 patients visited the AED during the 6 month
study. There were more male patients than female patients; however female patients were more likely
to be admitted to the day ward for observation. The most common age group was in the 31-60 years.
The most common indications for admissions to the Day Ward were for abdominal pain (18%), non–
specific giddiness (15%), non-specific body weakness (13%) and headache (12%). Of the 4,459 pa-
tients who were admitted to the day ward, only 179 patients (4.01%) were admitted to the hospital
wards, more female than male patients. The most common symptoms were giddiness and body weak-
ness. They were mainly admitted to the medical wards primarily for deranged laboratory investigations.
The average duration spent in the day ward was 5-6 hours.
Conclusion: The Day Ward is very essen-
tial to the AED and hospital. Many patients present to AED with a wide spectrum of symptoms, but only
a small fraction of the require admission, most of them are discharged after a brief period of observa-
tion.
- Full text:202606181126076854120139122.pdf
