One nurse ’ s experience of providing care while working within an overcrowded emergency department – an autoethnographic study By Lynette Finlayson

_________________________________________________________2 Acknowledgements _________________________________________________3 Chapter One – Study overview ______________________________________ 6 Introduction to the study _______________________________________ 6 Personal interest in the study ___________________________________ 7 Emergency Nursing ___________________________________________ 7 The notion of caring and my personal core values of nursing ___________ 10 Emergency Department Overcrowding ____________________________12 Studies within literature with relevance to this study__________________13 Summary ___________________________________________________ 15 Chapter Two Methodology and method ______________________________16 Autoethnography _____________________________________________ 16 Research Process _____________________________________________ 19 Rigor ______________________________________________________ 21 Ethical considerations _________________________________________ 23 Cultural considerations ________________________________________ 25 Summary ___________________________________________________ 25 Chapter Three – Data analysis _______________________________________ 26 What’s the harm in waiting times? _______________________________ 27 Too busy to care _____________________________________________ 32 Feeling all used up ___________________________________________ 37 Chapter Four – Conclusion and recommendations ______________________ 41 Reflections __________________________________________________ 41 Implications for emergency nurses and the wider nursing profession _____ 44 Implications for hospital organizations_____________________________44 Conclusion __________________________________________________46 References ________________________________________________________ 48