Nurse Code: A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Emergency Room Nurses Conducting Triage

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Triage is a common procedure conducted in an emergency room of a hospital. This is a process done by nurses wherein they quickly evaluate and categorize the patients based on the urgency and need for care. However, due to different circumstances, nurses experience different problems that serve as hindrances to perform this protocol. Although there are existing studies about triage nurses, these studies focused on the roles of triage nurses in the emergency room and not their experiences on conducting triage. Moreover, most of the studies often tackles the general experiences of nurses in the emergency department.

METHODS

This study used a qualitative method. It is a phenomenological study that shows the different experiences of ER nurses in conducting triage. The phenomenon of this study presents the experiences, difficulties, and the coping strategies of triage nurses. The population of the study involved ER nurses who have already experienced conducting triage. By using an in-depth interview, the difficulties and coping strategies of five ER nurses from General Emilio Aguinaldo Hospital were emphasized. Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis was used as a framework analysis.

RESULTS

The results showed that continuous admission of patients, irate patients and relatives, and manpower shortage are the common difficulties experienced by ER nurses. Among these difficulties, manpower shortage was experienced by the five nurses. Palter, Urbieta, and Nordquist (2016) stated that shortages in nurses in the emergency department can lead to deficiencies in staffing and disruption of patient care.

On the other hand, the results showed that proper endorsement of patients, explanation of procedures to patients and relatives concisely, teamwork, and time management are the coping strategies done by nurses. However, among these coping strategies, teamwork is the most common coping mechanism for nurses. This was supported by Khademian, Sharif, Tabei, Bolandparvaz, Abbaszadeh, and Abbasi (2013), they stated that teamwork can manage patients effectively since prioritizing patients, which is the main goal of triage, is considered as a team goal.

DISCUSSIONS

Therefore, the common difficulties experienced by triage nurses are continuous admission of patients, irate patients and relatives, and manpower shortage. On the other hand, proper endorsement of patients, explanation of procedures to patients and relatives concisely, and teamwork were the common coping strategies done by triage nurses.