The development and testing of the nurses' cardiac triage instrument

Rapid recognition and treatment of myocardial infarction (MI) reduces morbidity and mortality. Although emergency department (ED) nurses are often the first provider to evaluate individuals and are in a prime position to initiate MI guideline recommendations, no valid and reliable instrument was found to quantify their decision-making processes. The purpose of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of a new theoretically driven, empirically based instrument for measuring nurses' cardiac triage decisions. Using a descriptive research design, data were collected using a mailed survey. There were 158 ED nurses who completed a mailed questionnaire. Factor analysis revealed three factors (patient presentation, unbiased nurse reasoning process, and nurse action) with good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .903, .809, .718) and sample adequacy (KMO = .758) of the 30-item instrument. The newly developed instrument has the potential to improve patient outcomes surrounding early MI identification and treatment.