107: “What is a Resident?” Assessing Parental Knowledge and Preferences Regarding Residents in the Paediatric Emergency Department

Abstract

Residents play a key role in the care of children in the pediatric emergency department (PED). However, the knowledge and preferences parents/guardians (parents) have regarding residents is not established. Assess parental knowledge of the definition, level of training, and roles of residents in the PED. Assess parental preferences with respect to the involvement of residents in the care of their children and how residents introduce themselves and address the parents. A quality improvement project was undertaken in the PED of a large urban tertiary care children's hospital. Two surveys were administered to parents, with the first survey containing questions assessing parental knowledge of the definition, level of training, and roles of residents. The second survey provided parents with a definition of a resident and assessed parental preferences. Responses were reported on Likert scales where appropriate. A total of 99 parents were surveyed (77% female). Thirty-nine percent (95% CI 30% to 49%) of parents did not know that a resident is a doctor and 32% (95% CI 24% to 42%) did not know that residents require supervision. Eighty-two percent (95% CI 73% to 88%) of parents felt it was important to know the level of training of their doctor in the PED and 73% (95% CI 64% to 81%) felt it was ok for supervised trainees to care for their children. Eighty-seven percent (95% CI 80% to 94%) of parents preferred residents to introduce themselves with a ‘Dr’ prefix and 90% (95% CI 83% to 95%) wanted the doctor to state their level of training. 41% (95% CI 32% to 51%) of parents preferred to be addressed as ‘Mom/Dad’ and 31% (95% CI 23% to 41%) by their first name, but 71% (95% CI 61% to 79%) of parents did not perceive this to be important. A large proportion of surveyed parents did not have a strong understanding of the definition, level of training, and roles of residents but expressed a desire to be informed of the level of training of doctors involved in the care. Parents preferred residents to introduce themselves with a ‘Dr’ prefix. This project underscores the importance of communication with, and empowerment of, parents of children brought to PEDs and may provide guidance for interactions between residents and families in the future.