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Patient experience of emergency department triage: An integrative review
Carrie Janerka1, Gavin D Leslie2, Fenella J Gill3
1School of Nursing, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia; Fiona Stanley Hospital, South Metropolitan Health Service, Western Australia, Australia.
Background:
Emergency department (ED) triage is often patients' first contact with a health service and a critical point for patient experience. This review aimed to understand patient experience of ED triage and the waiting room.
Methods:
A systematic six-stage approach guided the integrative review. Medline, CINAHL, EmCare, Scopus, ProQuest, Cochrane Library, and JBI database were systematically searched for primary research published between 2000-2022 that reported patient experience of ED triage and/or waiting room. Quality was assessed using established critical appraisal tools. Data were analysed for descriptive statistics and themes using the constant comparison method.
Results:
Twenty-nine articles were included. Studies were mostly observational (n = 17), conducted at a single site (n = 23), and involved low-moderate acuity patients (n = 13). Nine interventions were identified. Five themes emerged: 'the who, what and how of triage', 'the patient as a person', 'to know or not to know', 'the waiting game', and 'to leave or not to leave'.
Conclusion:
Wait times, initiation of assessment and treatment, information provision and interactions with triage staff appeared to have the most impact on patient experience, though patients' desires for each varied. A person-centred approach to triage is recommended.
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