A qualitative study exploring Emergency Department Staff attitudes to COVID-19 research

Introduction

Research conducted in the Emergency Department (ED) is essential for improving patient care and advancing evidence-based practice. However, there are several challenges to research engagement in the ED, including lack of time, awareness of research opportunities, and concerns about the impact on clinical duties.

This study aimed to explore the attitudes and perceptions of ED staff involved in an enhanced syndromic surveillance of hospitalised severe acute respiratory illness (CHARISMA study) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

This qualitative study utilised semi-structured interviews with a mix of nursing and medical staff with a range of experience levels. Thematic analysis was then undertaken.

Results

9 respondents informed our four key themes: the value of research, the user experience of the study tools, clinician research engagement and improvement recommendations for future iterations of the study. Our findings reveal that ED staff value research and recognise its importance in improving patient care and evidence-based practice. However, they also face significant challenges in participating in research due to time constraints, lack of awareness of research opportunities, and concerns about the impact on clinical duties.

Conclusion

To address these challenges, we propose strategies to enhance research engagement in the ED, including providing more support from senior staff, more transparent communication about research studies, training on research methods and tools, and opportunities for feedback and input. Implementing these measures, we can enhance the environment for research in the ED, enabling wider staff contribution.

What is already known on this topic

Data collected in the Emergency Department by clinical and research teams was an important contribution to COVID research including multinational platform studies. However, little is known about the attitudes of front-line staff involved in this process. This study responds to a paucity of literature with regards to clinician attitudes towards being asked to participate in research during the COVID-19 pandemic in an acute setting.

What this study adds

This study provides the first published description of ED staff attitudes to their involvement in research during a global pandemic. It highlights the challenges that are posed by the unique pressures of the ED setting - namely activity and unpredictability, time pressure, and in some cases, a lack of resources.

How this study might affect research, practice or policy

This study reinforces the need, value and support of staff to conduct research in an ED setting. We hope that this study provides useful insight to researchers on potential pitfalls to beware when undertaking their own original research. We anticipate that many of our findings are highly generalisable to other ED and acute care settings and hope that this encourages further expansion of this area.