Perspectives of Emergency Department Staff on Triage Practice

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate pre-training perspectives of the staff, who were scheduled to undertake triage in hospitals of Ministry of Health, working in collaboration with university hospitals on the triage system. Materials and Methods: This study included 33 workers who volunteered to participate. A questionnaire consisting of 19 questions on demographic characteristics and perspective on triage system was prepared. Results: Of the sample group, 75.8% were female and the average age was 28.94 +/- 6.11 years. All participants in the study considered that emergency department was overused by the society. When the percentage of patients who were admitted to the emergency department for causes complying with the emergency criteria was questioned, 54.5% stated that 10% or less of the admissions were actual emergency cases. Triage practice was suggested by 54.5% of the participants to reduce crowding in emergency departments. Conclusion: Triage practice which allows correct identification of patients who need the most urgent intervention in emergency departments is important in terms of both giving the right care to the right patients and quality of service provided by healthcare workers. Community-based education as well as training of workers on this subject is a necessity.