The situation of emergency patient triage among professional nurses in the emergency department of one community hospital in the western region

Abstract

Emergency patient triage is crucial in managing patients who come for services in the accident and emergency department. This research aims to study the situation of emergency patient triage by professional nurses in the emergency department of a community hospital in the western region. The key informants, totaling 22 people, consisted of 2 hospital administrators, 5 doctors, 9 professional nurses, and 6 service users. The tool used was a semi-structured interview form, validated for content by experts. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions until data saturation was reached. The data obtained from the transcripts was then analyzed using content analysis. The research results found that the study of the emergency patient triage situation by professional nurses in the emergency department revealed three main issues: 1) emergency triage situations: triage errors, causes of triage errors, current triage practices, challenges in triage, and suggestions for improving triage 2) nurses’ triage competencies: knowledge and ability, attitude, skills 3) organizational designs for nurses’ triage competency development: structure, process, and outcome. Recommendations from this research could be used to create a mentoring system where experienced nurses closely train new nurses and to review and improve triage guidelines to suit the hospital's context.