The Effect of Mandatory Triage Questions on Triage Processes: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Nursing Research
• Healthcare Policy

Background:

• Emergency departments (EDs) in the United States use mandated questions during triage.
• Emergency nurses' perceptions of these questions' relevance are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand mandated triage questions in US EDs.
• To explore emergency nurses' views on the relevance of these questions to patient assessment.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative descriptive exploratory study.
• Focus group data collected from 35 emergency nurses at a 2022 conference.
• Analysis using Mayring's 8-step process.

Main Results:

• Nurses reported a lack of expertise and concerns about regulatory data conflating with patient assessment.
• This conflation hinders nurses' ability to evaluate patient presentations accurately.
• Key themes included assessment vs. compliance, question importance, and lack of nurse input.

Conclusions:

• Conflation of regulatory data and patient assessment challenges rapid, accurate risk identification in ED triage.
• Recommendations include prioritizing patient stability and safety questions during triage.
• Inquiry relevant to the patient's specific presentation is crucial for effective triage.