Causes and occurrences of interruptions during ED triage

Interruptions have been shown to cause errors and delays in the treatment of emergency patients and pose a real threat during the triage process. Missteps during the triage assessment can send a patient down the wrong treatment path and lead to delays. The purpose of this project was to identify the types and frequency of interruptions during the ED triage interview process.

A focus group of emergency nurses was organized to identify the types of interruptions that commonly occur during the triage interview. These interruptions would be validated through observations in triage. A tally sheet was developed and implemented to determine how often each interruption occurred during an 8-hour shift. Triage nurses completed the tally sheets while working the first shift (7 am to 3 pm). This shift was selected because patient intake in the US Department of Veterans Affairs Emergency Department is highest during this time.

The categories of interruptions identified included provision of conveniences to visitors, coworker-related interruptions, patient care-related interruptions, locating of family members in the emergency department, and other miscellaneous interruptions. Tally sheets were completed by the triage nurses during 10 shifts. On average, triage nurses were interrupted 48.2 times during an 8-hour shift (7 interruptions per hour). After reviewing the data, we found that only 22% of interruptions were related to patient care. More frequently, the causes of interruptions were not related to patient care: opening the door (33%), providing conveniences to visitors (21%), waiting patients or family members asking "How much longer?" (14%), and other causes (10%).

Frequent interruptions can interfere with concentration and may affect patient care. Non-patient care-related interruptions not only can be frustrating to the triage nurse but also can be offensive to triage patients; they ultimately delay care and may even affect the quality of care. However, because scarce research is available regarding interruptions during ED triage, the effects on patient outcomes are unclear. Additional research needs to be conducted to explore the causes and effects of interruptions to the triage process.