Evaluating the accuracy of emergency nurses in correct triage using emergency severity index triage in Sina hospital of Tabriz: a cross-sectional analysis

Rahmani, Farzad; Sepehri Majd, Pegah; Ebrahimi Bakhtavar, Haniyeh; Rahmani, Farnaz

doi:10.15171/jept.2017.19

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

² Department of Internal Medicine, Tabriz branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

³ Emergency Medicine Research Team, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

⁴ Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.15171/jept.2017.19

Abstract

Objective: Triage refers to the evaluation and categorization of patients for better management to deliver services. A good triage system should be able to accurately specify the patients who require urgent care. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of emergency nurses in correct triage using Emergency Severity Index (ESI) triage.
Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study 750 patients, who referred to the emergency department (ED) of Sina teaching hospital, participated from 23 July to 22 August in 2015. Participants were selected using convenience sampling method. The patients’ triage level was determined by physicians and nurses separately and the results were compared. To define the level of agreement between two groups (inter-rater agreement), the kappa index was evaluated. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 17.
Results: Among 750 patients, 577 patients (76.9%) were classified in correct triage group, 90 patients (12%) in undertriage group and 83 patients (11.1%) in overtriage group. Kappa agreement coefficient between the ESI triage level of physicians and nurses was 0.659 (95% CI: 0.646-0.667). There was statistically significant difference between the triage level of physicians and nurses (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: This study showed that there was moderate agreement between the triages of physicians and nurses. It seems that improving nurses’ skills and knowledge might increase the accuracy of emergency nurses in patients’ correct triage. Therefore, planning programs based on training correct triage for emergency nurses is strongly suggested.

Keywords

Main Subjects

emergency nursing

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Evaluating the accuracy of emergency nurses in correct triage using emergency severity index triage in Sina hospital of Tabriz: a cross-sectional analysis

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Volume 4, Issue 1January 2018Pages 9-13

Volume 4, Issue 1
January 2018
Pages 9-13