A Survey on Knowledge Level of the Nurses about Hospital Triage

Hospital triage is part of the emergency department structure which is done by emergency nurses. There is a little information about knowledge level of the nurses about triage. This study aimed to determine knowledge level of the nurses about hospital triage. This was a descriptive survey using simple random sampling. The researcher made questionnaire included 25 questions in three parts of demographic data, pure triage knowledge (15 questions) and triage decision making (10 questions). Seventy nurses of the emergency department participated in the study from all the hospitals of Sistan-Baluchestan province. The reliability of the questionnaire obtained 0.60 using test-retest. The data were analyzed using Kappa statistics, independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficients through software SPSS15. The response rate was equal to 68% (70 out of 102). The nurses had not enough knowledge about the hospital triage 39.9% of the responses to the knowledge level questions were correct. Only in 3 hospitals (out of 10), special nurses have been dedicated to triage. The nurses who had more than two years experience in emergency department had received a higher average score. The concordance rate of the nurses in triage decision making was average (κ=0.56). Low knowledge of the nurses about hospital triage could be due to lack of formal training courses and lack of obligation of the emergency departments on evidence-based decision making. Establishing academic courses for nursing triage and developing national triage scale is recommended.