Triage practice in emergency departments in tertiary hospitals across China: A multicenter national descriptive...

Triage procedure remains at a developing stage in mainland China, and few studies have reported the current status. This study aimed to explore the triage practices presently implemented in emergency departments in mainland China. A descriptive online national survey was administered to nurses with experience in emergency department triage who worked in 64 hospitals in 2019. A total of 361 participants completed the survey. Only 210 nurses (58.2%) used triage systems. Approximately 5% of the participants reported that no nurse was allocated to triage during the evening and night shifts in their emergency departments. Most participants had fewer than 5 years of nursing experience (47%) and emergency nursing experience (58.2%) before fulfilling the triage role. This study shows the variability in triage guidelines as well as the inconsistency between different hospitals in nurses' entry qualifications to triage, in hospital workforce arrangements, and in triage training. These problems underscore the need to unify triage guidelines and to establish reasonable entry qualifications and appropriate workforce arrangements for triage nurses that ensure high triage quality and high levels of patient safety.