Determining Emergency Severity Index Acuity: Key Triage Elements Identified by Emergency Nurses

Area of Science:

• Emergency Nursing
• Patient Triage
• Healthcare Informatics

Background:

• Mandated screening questions can impede rapid, accurate patient assessment by emergency nurses.
• Inexperienced nurses struggle to differentiate essential stability-determining questions from others.
• Current triage processes may include non-critical data collection, impacting efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how triage nurses identify critical data elements for efficient patient triage.
• To understand nurses' perceptions of where assessment elements should occur.
• To identify common triage processes and areas for improvement.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative descriptive exploratory study design was employed.
• Survey data was collected from emergency nurses.
• The study focused on identifying critical data elements for triage.

Main Results:

• Nurses identified chief complaint, vital signs, allergies, pain, weight, and medical history as critical triage elements.
• Glasgow Coma Scale, pregnancy status, and infectious disease screening were also deemed essential.
• Other screenings were considered appropriate for later in the patient care process or at discharge.

Conclusions:

• Emergency nurses can identify essential data for accurate Emergency Severity Index (ESI) assignment.
• A revised triage process excluding non-critical screenings could enhance nursing accuracy and patient outcomes.
• Further research should evaluate the impact of streamlined triage on ESI assignment and patient results.