{"title":"Results of an advanced nursing triage protocol in emergency departments.","authors":"Songül Biskin Çetin, Oktay Eray, Sengül Erdal Akiner, Meral Gözkaya, Özlem Yigit","doi":"10.4103/2452-2473.357349","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The increasing number of patients admitted to emergency departments (EDs) and overcrowding of EDs lead to a global problem. Advanced nursing triage is an important solution in facilitating patient and time management, also increasing the efficiency of the ED. This study was conducted to predict the possible effects of applying advanced nursing triage modeling with predetermined protocols during the current nursing triage in the ED.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. An advanced \"triage assessment protocol,\" which was developed previously, was hypothetically applied for 5 days by triage nurses in the adult ED of a university hospital. The hypothetical application was tested by triage nurses in all shifts. The nurses recorded the examination or treatment options which they thought to apply for the patient on the study form. The data recorded on the advanced triage evaluation protocol form by the triage nurses were compared with the patient outcomes and physician examination/treatment requests in the Hospital Information Management System by the researchers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the study, it was determined that the rate of examination/treatment that could be requested according to the advanced nursing triage protocol was 46%. There were a good level of agreement on X-ray and a moderate level of agreement on urinary test and urinary beta- Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) test between physicians and triage nurses regarding examination/treatment requests. In addition, it was found that there was a 61.2% of agreement on decisions made for patients aged between 18 and 35. The rate of agreement between doctors and nurses regarding a gluco-stick request for patients admitted outside the prime time (92.2%) was found to be significantly higher (87.9%) than for patients admitted during prime time (<i>P</i> = 0.046).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>\"Advanced triage\" practices recommended for busy EDs were tested \"hypothetically\" at the national level due to the lack of legal regulations and were found to be compatible with the actual results of physicians' practices at an acceptable level, especially for selected medical conditions. The method used in this study can be useful in planning the transition to \"advanced triage\" practices. These results can show the readiness of nurses for the transition to this practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":46536,"journal":{"name":"Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/23/8e/TJEM-22-200.PMC9639741.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4103/2452-2473.357349","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/10/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"EMERGENCY MEDICINE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: The increasing number of patients admitted to emergency departments (EDs) and overcrowding of EDs lead to a global problem. Advanced nursing triage is an important solution in facilitating patient and time management, also increasing the efficiency of the ED. This study was conducted to predict the possible effects of applying advanced nursing triage modeling with predetermined protocols during the current nursing triage in the ED.
Methods: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. An advanced "triage assessment protocol," which was developed previously, was hypothetically applied for 5 days by triage nurses in the adult ED of a university hospital. The hypothetical application was tested by triage nurses in all shifts. The nurses recorded the examination or treatment options which they thought to apply for the patient on the study form. The data recorded on the advanced triage evaluation protocol form by the triage nurses were compared with the patient outcomes and physician examination/treatment requests in the Hospital Information Management System by the researchers.
Results: In the study, it was determined that the rate of examination/treatment that could be requested according to the advanced nursing triage protocol was 46%. There were a good level of agreement on X-ray and a moderate level of agreement on urinary test and urinary beta- Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) test between physicians and triage nurses regarding examination/treatment requests. In addition, it was found that there was a 61.2% of agreement on decisions made for patients aged between 18 and 35. The rate of agreement between doctors and nurses regarding a gluco-stick request for patients admitted outside the prime time (92.2%) was found to be significantly higher (87.9%) than for patients admitted during prime time (P = 0.046).
Conclusion: "Advanced triage" practices recommended for busy EDs were tested "hypothetically" at the national level due to the lack of legal regulations and were found to be compatible with the actual results of physicians' practices at an acceptable level, especially for selected medical conditions. The method used in this study can be useful in planning the transition to "advanced triage" practices. These results can show the readiness of nurses for the transition to this practice.
期刊介绍:
The Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine (Turk J Emerg Med) is an International, peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes clinical and experimental trials, case reports, invited reviews, case images, letters to the Editor, and interesting research conducted in all fields of Emergency Medicine. The Journal is the official scientific publication of the Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey (EMAT) and is printed four times a year, in January, April, July and October. The language of the journal is English. The Journal is based on independent and unbiased double-blinded peer-reviewed principles. Only unpublished papers that are not under review for publication elsewhere can be submitted. The authors are responsible for the scientific content of the material to be published. The Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine reserves the right to request any research materials on which the paper is based. The Editorial Board of the Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine and the Publisher adheres to the principles of the International Council of Medical Journal Editors, the World Association of Medical Editors, the Council of Science Editors, the Committee on Publication Ethics, the US National Library of Medicine, the US Office of Research Integrity, the European Association of Science Editors, and the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors.