Infectious disease
Mojtaba Miladinia; Farhad Abolnezhadian; Joachim G. Voss; Kourosh Zarea; Naser Hatamzadeh; Mandana Ghanavati
Volume 8, Issue 2 , July 2022, , Pages 90-94
Abstract
Objective: Final patient triage determines which patients can be home-isolated andwhich patients require hospitalization on the basis to predict the patient’s prognosismost accurately. Final triage is an important link in the clinical management chain of thecoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, ...
Read More
Objective: Final patient triage determines which patients can be home-isolated andwhich patients require hospitalization on the basis to predict the patient’s prognosismost accurately. Final triage is an important link in the clinical management chain of thecoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and a comprehensive review of variouspatient triage methods is very important to guide decision making and triage efficiency.Decision by clinicians about hospitalization or home-discharge is one of the main challengesin places with limited hospital facilities compared to the high volume of COVID-19 patients.This review was designed to guide clinicians on how to address this challenge.Methods: In this mini review we searched scientific databases to obtain the final triagemethods of COVID-19 patients and the important criteria in each method. In order toconducted searches a period from December 2019 to July 2020 was considered. All searcheswere done in electronic databases and search engines.Results: Findings revealed four current methods for final triage (decision-making regardinghome-isolation or hospitalization of COVID-19 patients). These methods included 1)demographic and background information, 2) clinical information, 3) laboratory indicatorsand 4) initial chest CT-scan. Each of the aforementioned methods encompassed significantcriteria according to which decisions on the patient’s prognosis and final triage were made.Finally, by evaluating each final triage method, we found that each method had somelimitations.Conclusion: An effective and quick final triage requires simultaneous complementary useof all four methods to compensate for each other’s weaknesses and add to each other’sstrengths. It is therefore suggested to assure that clinicians are trained in all four COVID-19patient’s triage methods and their useful criteria in order to achieve evidence-basedperformance for better triage (decision between home-isolation versus hospitalization).
Emergency medicine
Harish Kodisiddaiah Shivanna; Aruna Chala Ramesh; Keshava Murthy M Rangaswamy
Volume 8, Issue 1 , January 2022, , Pages 43-48
Abstract
Objective:To implement the 5-level Emergency Severity Index (ESI) triage tool into nursingpractice in the emergency department (ED) and validate it with a population-based cohortusing hospitalization and length of stay (LOS) as outcome measures.Methods: The study included 850 patients, irrespective of ...
Read More
Objective:To implement the 5-level Emergency Severity Index (ESI) triage tool into nursingpractice in the emergency department (ED) and validate it with a population-based cohortusing hospitalization and length of stay (LOS) as outcome measures.Methods: The study included 850 patients, irrespective of age and gender, reporting tothe ED of a tertiary care hospital. Each patient was assessed by the triage nurse as perthe 5-level ESI triage tool and categorized. The number and type of resources used by thepatient, LOS in the ED and the outcome were noted. Data were statistically analyzed byusing RStudio Team software, 2015. A P value of < 0.05 was considered to be statisticallysignificant.Results: The majority of patients belonged to ESI-4 (46.82%), followed by ESI-1 (19.41%),ESI-2 (17.06%), ESI-3 (10.35%), and ESI-5 (6.35%). In most patients, the LOS in the ED was<120 minutes (55.65%). ESI showed a statistically significant association with all the clinicalcharacteristics, as well as resources used, interventions needed, maximum time allowedbefore initiating physician assessment, duration of stay in ED, and patient outcomes(P=0.000). ESI was found to have a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 78%.Conclusion: ESI is a useful and valid tool for the emergency triage and has the potential tobecome the standard triage acuity assessment in EDs in India.
Infectious disease
Enayatollah Noori; Mostafa Vahedian; Sajjad Rezvan; Neda Minaei; Reihane Tabaraii
Volume 8, Issue 1 , January 2022, , Pages 60-63
Abstract
Objective: Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the triage ofpatients diagnosed with corona virus has been a very important issue. The aim of thisstudy was to introduce a triage scoring system according to the clinical and para-clinicalfindings of patients in order to be admitted ...
Read More
Objective: Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the triage ofpatients diagnosed with corona virus has been a very important issue. The aim of thisstudy was to introduce a triage scoring system according to the clinical and para-clinicalfindings of patients in order to be admitted or discharged with COVID-19.Methods: After confirming the positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for patients,we used a scoring system which included: the age of patient (less than 40 years and >40years), early vital signs at the time of admission, lab tests including C-reactive protein (CRP),white blood count (WBC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, chest imaging findings,comorbidity and shortness of breath.Results: The clinical score obtained for each variable in this scoring system was a numberbetween 0 and 3. The total score was a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 17. A higher scoreindicated an increase in the intensity and the need for intensive care. These scores wereclassified into 3 groups: 0-4, 5-10 and above 10. In the next stage, patients were dividedinto three groups: mild, moderate and severe. In this regard, patients with mild symptomswere suggested to receive home quarantine and home treatment, patients with moderatesymptoms were recommended hospitalization and medical care, and finally patients withsevere symptoms were inclined to intensive care.Conclusion: In order to treat and manage patients with COVID-19, it is necessary to payparticular attention to clinical and para-clinical findings and prioritize these findings basedon the severity and the condition of patients.
emergency nursing
Farzad Rahmani; Pegah Sepehri Majd; Haniyeh Ebrahimi Bakhtavar; Farnaz Rahmani
Volume 4, Issue 1 , January 2018, , Pages 9-13
Abstract
Objective: Triage refers to the evaluation and categorization of patients for better management to deliver services. A good triage system should be able to accurately specify the patients who require urgent care. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of emergency nurses in correct triage ...
Read More
Objective: Triage refers to the evaluation and categorization of patients for better management to deliver services. A good triage system should be able to accurately specify the patients who require urgent care. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of emergency nurses in correct triage using Emergency Severity Index (ESI) triage. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study 750 patients, who referred to the emergency department (ED) of Sina teaching hospital, participated from 23 July to 22 August in 2015. Participants were selected using convenience sampling method. The patients’ triage level was determined by physicians and nurses separately and the results were compared. To define the level of agreement between two groups (inter-rater agreement), the kappa index was evaluated. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 17. Results: Among 750 patients, 577 patients (76.9%) were classified in correct triage group, 90 patients (12%) in undertriage group and 83 patients (11.1%) in overtriage group. Kappa agreement coefficient between the ESI triage level of physicians and nurses was 0.659 (95% CI: 0.646-0.667). There was statistically significant difference between the triage level of physicians and nurses (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This study showed that there was moderate agreement between the triages of physicians and nurses. It seems that improving nurses’ skills and knowledge might increase the accuracy of emergency nurses in patients’ correct triage. Therefore, planning programs based on training correct triage for emergency nurses is strongly suggested.
emergency nursing
Ramin Azhough; Samad Shams Vahdati; Fariba Faraji; Malihe Faraji; Maryam Ghorbanian; Ali Ramouz; Shahrad Tajoddini
Volume 1, Issue 2 , July 2015, , Pages 52-55
Abstract
Objective: Triage procedure is one of the most important aspects of emergency departments as it has an undeniable role on the management of patients. It includes 5 categories based on the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) according to the condition of severity. For better decision making and management, ...
Read More
Objective: Triage procedure is one of the most important aspects of emergency departments as it has an undeniable role on the management of patients. It includes 5 categories based on the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) according to the condition of severity. For better decision making and management, it is important to have skillful and experienced nursing staff. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a one-day workshop on participants in terms of their triage knowledge improvement.
Methods: This is a pre- and post-test trial study. In this study all the nursing staff of Sina hospital participated. The workshop was conducted in a single day for 6 hours. During the one-day workshop, topics such as emergency triage and hospital triage were covered according to START and ESI. In order to evaluate triage knowledge, each participant completed a pre-test before the workshop, and a post-test after the workshop (15 questions). Data were analyzed with SPSS 15.0. Paired t test was applied for data analysis.
Results: Fifty-five nurses with the mean age of 35.72 ± 7.35 participated in the workshop. The analysis of the data, using paired t test based on the pre-test and post-test results, did not show any significant differences (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: This study suggests that a one-day workshop is not really effective and reliable for triage knowledge improvement. We propose longer planned workshops in order to train more skillful staff.