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Improving Triage Accuracy In The Emergency Department, Joselyn Silverman

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: High rates of patients being mis-triaged was occurring at Hospital X leading to poor patient outcomes and incorrect staffing levels.

Context: This quality improvement project took place at Hospital X’s emergency department. A stakeholder analysis and a microsystem assessment along with a staff survey was created in order to determine areas of improvement and staff responsiveness.

Interventions: Eight educational seminars were conducted along with Hospital X leadership and students created supplemental materials for the staff to use on a daily basis.

Measures: Two data pulls were conducted over the course of the quality improvement project; one prior to the …

Improving Analgesia Administration For Pediatric Patients In A Rural Emergency Department, Alvin R. Walters

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

When a child is in pain, parents often seek out treatment at an emergency department. After a detailed chart review it was determined that only 32.53% of the pediatric patients who present to a rural, northern California, ED in pain receive any documented form of analgesia during their time in the ED. A review of the literature revealed that triage nurse-initiated protocols can successfully manage to provide consistent and efficient analgesia to patients who present to an ED with pain. Therefore, a practice improvement project was undertaken to increase of the consistency and efficiency of analgesia administration for pediatric patients …

Current Evidence For Pediatric Triage Pain Protocols In The Emergency Department, Alvin R. Walters

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Only 50% of pediatric patients presenting with significant pain receive any form of analgesia while in the emergency department (ED). The American College of Emergency Physicians endorses the use of triage protocols to improve the speed and consistency of analgesia in the ED. However, given the unique needs of the pediatric population insufficient evidence exists, if any, to support the use of triage protocols for their treatment in the ED. After a review of the literature it is concluded that triage pain protocols are a safe and effective method for providing pediatric analgesia in the ED. However, the variability in …

Triage Training: Improving Access To Care, Leslie D. Simpson-Crawford

Master's Projects and Capstones

Left Without Being Seen (LWBS) rates have been described as “the gold standard of metrics” for high acuity units. In this project, the aim is to increase patient access to care by decreasing both wait times for patients and the LWBS rate for the unit, which approaches 6%. As part of a military hospital, the unit provides for veterans, active duty service members, and their families, with ages ranging from infant to elderly, in a 24 hour acute care hospital setting.

Triage training was identified as a necessary first-step for improving the unit efficiency and increasing patient satisfaction. While the …