Benefits of emergency department routine blood test performance on patients whose allocated triage category is not time critical: a retrospective study.
Abdi D Osman, Jocelyn Howell, Michael Yeoh, Damian Wilson, Virginia Plummer, George Braitberg
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Emergency department clinicians, and particularly nurses in triage, frequently perform routine blood tests on patients whose allocated triage category is not time critical (triage categories 3, 4 and 5 of the Australasian Triage Scale). Some observers have questioned the utility of routine blood testing in these acute healthcare settings given the cost and workload implications.
Methods: A quantitative method using retrospective observational design was utilised guided by STROBE checklist. Electronic medical records of patient data collected at a quaternary Australian metropolitan hospital emergency department were reviewed.
Results and discussion: A total of 74,878 adult patients attended the emergency department between 1st January and 31st December 2021 and a sample of 383 were randomly allocated for this study. Of the 383 patients included, 51% were female, age ranges were 18-99 years (mean 51.6). The majority were Australasian Triage scale (ATS) triage category 3 (55%) and 62% had blood tests performed. Blood test performance was found to be associated with advancing age (p < 0.001) but not with department occupancy as determined by the national emergency department overcrowding scale (p = 0.230).
Conclusion: Blood testing in the emergency department in triaged non-time critical patients was found to be frequent thereby affecting nurses' already stretched time resource. Older patients were found to be more likely to have a blood test. There is a positive correlation between blood test performance and length of stay in the emergency department.
期刊介绍:
BMC Health Services Research is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of health services research, including delivery of care, management of health services, assessment of healthcare needs, measurement of outcomes, allocation of healthcare resources, evaluation of different health markets and health services organizations, international comparative analysis of health systems, health economics and the impact of health policies and regulations.