How Does the Use of a Clinical Pathway Affect Chest Trauma Patients, Improve Patient Outcomes, and Reduce Length of Stay and Overall Costs?: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical pathways on patient outcomes associated with ICU stay for chest trauma patients. A quasi-experimental research design was utilized in this study. The sample consisted of 60 adult patients with chest trauma. The study was conducted at the trauma ICU in Assiut University Hospital. There were 60 patients included in this study related to the demographic characteristics of the patients assigned to the study and control groups. The difference in mean age between the 2 groups was not statistically significant. Across both groups, most participants were male and educated; the differences found in medical diagnoses between groups were statistically significant. The cost of medication represents the highest cost among the total costs for financial and cost of stay in ICU (7505 ± 1207) for the study group and (32 004 ± 8790) for the control group. There were high differences between the means of all costs with statistically significant differences at the level in relation to the financial and cost of stay in the ICU. A clinical pathway improves outcomes for patients with chest trauma. The findings highlight the importance of implementing clinical pathways to enhance patient care and optimize health care resources.