Abstract
Registered nurses (RNs) in an acute care trauma emergency center (TEC) of a regional health system were leaving the department in staggering numbers. Informal leaders in the TEC verbalized frustration working with novice nurses in triage compared to working with experienced emergency nurses. Novice nurses felt unequipped and underprepared to effectively triage more acute patients due to lack of experience and mentoring. Emergency department (ED) triage is instrumental in ensuring high quality, timely care. It is a process through which patients are registered, the chief complaint is obtained, and patients are seen according to the highest nurse-assigned treatment priority. In the TEC, novice nurses with 4 months experience were assigned an online learning module and started shifts in the triage area by 6 months. These nurses do not receive trauma and high acuity training until after 1 year of experience. Experienced TEC nurses complained that patients were sometimes assigned inappropriate triage acuity scores by novice nurses. The Emergency Nurse Association (ENA) recommends a minimum of 1 year of emergency nursing experience, as well as appropriate credentials and education, before assuming responsibility for triage assessment.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Lead Author Affiliation
Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Type
DNP Capstone Project
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Emergency Nurse, Empowerment, Triage Training
Advisor
Bigham, Amy
Degree
DNP
Degree Grantor
Samford University
Degree Year
2020
Recommended Citation
Trenary, April and Frisbie, Stacy, "Triage training program for a large emergency department" (2020). Group: Samford University Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing. 150.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/samford/150
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
None: Degree-based Submission
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2020-07-17
Full Text of Presentation
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