The Comparative Study on Pediatric Triage Decision-Making Power in Nurses and Nursing Students: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Triage nurses are the first people in the emergency department providing care to patients. Their knowledge is very important in efficient triage. According to the few studies on the factors affecting triage, the current study aimed at investigating the nurses and nursing students' knowledge about the triage of children. Objectives: Accordingly, the current study aimed at determining the level of knowledge of nursing students and nurses about pediatric triage and the impact of knowledge on the triage performance, in Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Methods: The current descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted on 88 nurses and 88 nursing students selected through a census sampling from a selected hospital. The data were collected over one month in 2017, by means of a researcher-made questionnaire that included: Demographic characteristics (age, gender, degree, etc.) and knowledge level of staff. The validity of the questionnaire was determined by content validity and its reliability was measured by a test-retest method. After transferring the data into SPSS, statistical analysis was performed by descriptive and inferential statistical tests such as the Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis. The level of significance was P < 0.05. Results: A total of 176 questionnaires were completed. A review of the responses given in the knowledge section revealed that 94.3% of the nurses and students were within the weak range. There was no significant relationship between demographic characteristics and triage knowledge in nurses and nursing students (P > 0.05). Conclusions: According to the current study results, knowledge of nurses and nursing students should be reinforced to better accomplish patient's triage. Since emergency nurses are among the most important staff in providing the prioritizing triage, therefore, nursing education programs should include triage courses that retain mastery in this scope.

Evaluation of the factors affecting triage decision-making among emergency department nurses and emergency medical technicians in Iran: a study based on Benner’s theory

“…In the present study, the triage training course was identified as the predictor of TDM in ED nurses and EMTs. Several studies have reported that training is the foundation of a triage system and greatly contributes to TDM [12,28,29,37]. The results of this study were in line with those of previous studies [13,23].…”

“…The results also showed that the levels of nursing proficiency and work experience were a predictor of TDM in ED nurses and EMTs. Experience and expertise have been reported as the most important factors influencing the decision of triage nurses [3,[27][28][29]. Studies show that expert nurses in the clinical decision-making process, using macro cognition, use various factors such as new information, environment, and organizational factors.…”

Effect of Pediatric Triage Education on Nurses' knowledge and Attitude at Emergency Department

“…This also can be supported by Shehab et al (2017) and El-Guindy et al ( 2022) who reported that total triage knowledge among studied nurses showed marked improvement posttest in comparison to pretest assessment (29,30) . Furthermore, those findings concurred with Moirangthem (2019) who found that more than half of nurses had average level of knowledge about triage (31) , this can be supported by Pouy et al (2019) who revealed that most of the nurses did not have enough knowledge related to triage (32) . On the contrary side, the current study did not match the findings of Ina Lea etal (2022), who stated that more than half of nurses had good knowledge of triage, nearly half had moderate knowledge, and none had poor knowledge (33) .…”

“…In the same line Malakeh et al (2022) found that there was a positive correlation between triage knowledge and emergency experience (38) . In contrast to, Pouy et al (2019) who found no significant correlation between work experience and level of nurses' knowledge related to triage (32) . Also, Mustafa et al (2019) mentioned that there was no statistically significant correlation between nurse's knowledge, and their experience years (19. This could be due to a lack of ongoing educational training in pediatric emergency triage.…”

Knowledge, Awareness, and Understanding of Pediatric Triage Among Nursing Officers in India: A Multicenter Study

“…According to a cross-sectional study, nurses and nursing students should undergo comprehensive training and reinforcement to acquire proficient triaging skills [ 5 ]. A systematic review revealed a notable paucity of research on evaluating pediatric triage tools in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) [ 6 , 7 ].…”