Knowledge of triage and its correlated factors among Emergency Department Nurses

Background: Emergency services utilize a triage approach to rank patients according to the
seriousness of their diagnoses. Triage is one of the abilities that a nurse working in an emergency
room must possess. Aim: This study aims to examine the nurses' knowledge regarding triage and
identify the variables that affect emergency nurses' knowledge of the triage systems. Methods: This
cross-sectional descriptive study was performed from April to June 2021, on (48) nurses working in
the emergency department. (ED) at Burridah central hospital in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.
A self-administered questionnaire with non-probability purposive sampling was used to gather the
data by sociodemographic data and triage knowledge. Results: The findings revealed that 68.8%
were female and 45.8 % with a mean age of 31.79. Nurses revealed moderate levels of triage
knowledge. Bachelor science nursing degree (p = 0.005, B= 10.659), years of experience for ≥5
years (p = 0.002, B =10.670), and training courses on triage (p = 0.001, B= 12.418) were affecting
factors with statistically significant on emergency nurses’ knowledge. Conclusions: Findings
revealed that emergency nurses had a moderate level of triage knowledge and affecting factors of
nurses' knowledge were qualification, years of experience, and training courses of triage Therefore,
recommendations for training sessions and programs should be held and taken into account the
connected increases in emergency nurses' knowledge of triage ot improve the quality of nursing care
and patient outcomes.