Abstract:
a b s t r a c t
Introduction: Though nurses are frontline workers in emergency care, their experiences in emergency
centres are seldom researched. This study explored lived experiences of Registered General Nurses working
in emergency centres.
Methods: This study employed an exploratory qualitative design. Purposive sampling was used in selecting
hospitals and participants for study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20
Registered General Nurses who worked in emergency centres. Data analysis was performed through content
analysis.
Results: Demographic results revealed that only one respondent used knowledge of critical care nursing
to practice emergency care in an emergency centre. Four thematic categories emerged after qualitative
data analysis: a) Emergency centre as a place of learning and increased confidence for nurses; b)
Feelings of joy in emergency centres; c) Social and physical consequences of emergency centres on lives
of emergency centre nurses; d) Clients receiving low quality care in emergency centres.
Discussion: Employment of specialist trained emergency staff and formal education of Registered General
Nurses in the advanced role of emergency care nursing may be necessary to improve quality of care rendered
to clients in emergency centres.
2017 African Federation for Emergency Medicine. Publishing services provided by Elsevier B.V. This is
an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
