Open AccessPediatric Emergency Department Provider Perceptions of Universal Sexually Transmitted Infection Screening
Author(s) -
Gordon Gillespie,
Jennifer L. Reed,
Carolyn K. Holland,
Jennifer Knopf Munafo,
Rachael Ekstrand,
Maria T. Britto,
Jill S. Huppert
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
advanced emergency nursing journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1931-4493
pISSN - 1931-4485
DOI - 10.1097/tme.0b013e31827eabe5
Subject(s) - emergency department , medicine , family medicine , medical emergency , perception , sexually transmitted disease , nursing , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , psychology , syphilis , neuroscience
The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of pediatric emergency care providers in relation to implementing a universal sexually transmitted infection screening process for adolescent female patients in a pediatric emergency department. A descriptive qualitative design was used with a convenience sample of pediatric emergency physicians and nurses working in a large urban, pediatric teaching hospital. Participants were individually interviewed using a standard interview guide. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using a modified constant comparative analysis method. Three overriding themes were identified that describe the perceptions of providers in relation to a universal screening process in a pediatric emergency department: Attitudes, Barriers, and Solutions. Universal sexually transmitted infection screening is one strategy that may help with early identification and treatment of adolescent female patients with undiagnosed sexually transmitted infections, and the pediatric emergency department is a potential site for such screening.