Emergency nurses' triage narrative data, their uses and structure: a scoping review protocol

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Nursing Informatics
• Clinical Documentation

Background:

• Triage narratives are the initial patient documentation in emergency departments.
• These unstructured narratives offer richer patient data than fixed fields.
• Previous reviews are outdated and did not focus solely on nursing narratives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comprehensive scoping review of the literature on nurses' triage narratives.
• To identify and synthesize existing research on the use and impact of these narratives.
• To highlight gaps in the current research landscape.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing the Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines.
• Conducting systematic searches across major databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase, etc.).
• Employing forward citation searching and including studies regardless of geography or design, with specific exclusions.

Main Results:

• Extracted quantitative and qualitative data will be analyzed.
• Inter-rater reliability will be assessed using Cohen's kappa.
• Findings will be summarized using narrative descriptions and statistical measures.

Conclusions:

• This review will provide a current overview of research on nursing triage narratives.
• It aims to inform future research and clinical practice.
• Dissemination will occur through conferences, journals, and social media.