The development of outpatient guidelines according to Nursing standards Chaturaphakphiman Hospital Roi Et Province

Abstract

Purposes : To develop and evaluate the guidelines for outpatient triage according to nursing standards.

Study design : This research was a research and development approach.

Materials and methods : The study period was from April 2023 to December 2023.  The study population is 30 professional nurses working in the outpatient department and the emergency and forensic departments during the said period. The first phase is to develop guidelines for outpatient triage according to nursing standards and the evaluation phase of the implementation of the guidelines for outpatient triage according to nursing standards. Data were collected from medical records and questionnaires and quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation.

Main findings : The causes of incorrect outpatient triage include failure to follow the guidelines, lack of knowledge and skills in outpatient triage, and rotation from other locations. The development of guidelines for outpatient triage according to nursing standards includes an outpatient triage procedure manual, patient triage procedure posters, and a checklist for rapid patient triage after implementation. Nurses who practiced had a statistically significant difference in the mean knowledge score before and after the development at (p<.001). The overall practice of outpatient triage guidelines according to the triage guidelines was at an excellent level (Mean= 4.60, SD. = 0.92). When considering each case, the highest mean score was in history taking and important symptoms (Mean = 4.92, SD. = 0.71). The nurses’ satisfaction with the outpatient triage model was the highest overall (Mean = 4.53, SD. = 0.61). When classified by each case, the highest mean score was in the case of the guidelines being beneficial to service recipients (Mean = 4.83, SD. = 0.78). The tendency of over and under-triage decreased. There was 1 emergency while waiting for examination and it was not serious.       

Conclusion and recommendations : There should be continuous monitoring and promotion of implementation and continuous process development to facilitate and simplify the practitioners, which will have a positive effect on the quality of service.