Knowledge, Skill And Practice On Triage In Emergency Nurses At Tertiary Changsha Hospitals, China

Introduction and objective The triage nurse in the emergency department (ED) is the first person that a patient encounters, the triage nurses’knowledge has been cited as an influential factor in triage decision-making. Triage skill is an essential competency required for the emergency nurses. The purpose was to assess the triaging knowledge, skills and practice and the relationship among knowledge, skill, and quality practice of nurses working in the EDs at tertiary hospitals in Changsha, China.Methods descriptive cross-sectional study designs was used and data was collected using a structured questionnaire, which included the demographic data including training and working experiences, triage knowledge section, triage skill section and questions on triage practice. The contents of questionnaires were validated by five experts and tested for reliability, the correlation coefficient of the triage knowledge and the triage skill was (0.77),(0.74) respectively. Two hundred and four nurses working in EDs of the tertiary hospitals in Changsha, China, were recruited by purposive sampling. Descriptive statistical data analysis was carried out using SPSS18and Excel2013. Result87.3%of the respondents reported that although they had attended additional training in emergency and more half of them had greater than5years working experiences in ED. The mean triage knowledge score (49.6±11.2) at low level. Overall, perceived triage skill was at a moderate level with the mean score of (62.5±16.4). There were significantly correlations between triage knowledge and triage skill (r=0.22, p=0.002), triage skill and triage quality (r=0.21, p0.002). While no significant between triage knowledge and triage quality (r=0.085, p=0.22).47%of respondents have used triage in their emergency departments and the use of triage scales and acuity ratings were Non-uniform.Conclusion This study shows that the level of triage knowledge is low and the level of skill is moderate in the ED nurses in Changsha tertiary hospitals. The diversity among several aspects of nursing triage (shortage qualified nurses performing triage, different triage scales) presented in the study points to a safety risk for the patients. Additional training in triage, establish triage scales, standards, and guidelines are recommended.