Abstract
This study examined what relationships or differences exist between patient and nurse characteristics, satisfaction with triage nurse caring behaviors, general satisfaction with the triage nurse, and intent to return to a rural hospital emergency department (ED). The ED, located at a 401-bed teaching hospital in a small southern city, averages 28,000 visits annually. Samples of ED nurses (N = 11) and ED patients (N = 65) were asked to respond to demographic forms and the Consumer Emergency Care Satisfaction Scale (CECSS) Adapted. Findings indicated that the nurse's acuity rating and the patient's perception of condition had a positive relationship. The patient's perception of condition, patient satisfaction, and caring satisfaction were predictors of intent to return. When patients perceived themselves as seriously ill or injured, they expressed less intent to return to that ED.