Patients’ perception of privacy and confidentiality in the emergency department of a busy obstetric unit

• DOI: 10.1186/s12913-018-3782-6
• Publication Date: 2018-12-18T08:14:15Z
• Authors: Lucia Hartigan; Leanne Cussen; Sarah Meaney; Keelin O’Donoghue
• Keywords: Patient Privacy; Health administration

Privacy and confidentiality are central components of patient care particular importance in obstetrics gynaecology, where clinical situations a sensitive nature regularly occur. The layout the emergency department (ED) maternity units is often not conducive to maintaining privacy. Our study aimed discover if changing environment could improve patients' experiences ED. We surveyed patients asked specific questions about their perception privacy then repeated survey following renovations ED which involved replacing curtained areas with walled cubicles. There were 75 pre-renovation surveys 82 post-renovation completed. Before took place, only 21% (n = 16) found be adequate during visit However this rose 89% 73) post-renovation. showed that significantly improved refurbishment