Causes of Delay in Patient Triage in the Emergency Departments of Tabriz Hospitals
Abbas Dadashzadeh1, Farahnaz Abdollahzadeh2, Samad Shams Vahdati3, Mozhgan Lotfi2, Morteza Ghojazadeh4, Simindokht Bagheri Mehmandousti5
1Member Of The Research Team Of Nursing And Obstetrics, Tabriz University Of Medical Science
2Trainer Of Surgical-internal Nursing Group, Nursing And Obstetrics, Tabriz University Of Medical Science
3Assistant Professor Of Emergency Medicine, Tabriz University Of Medical Science
4Assistant Professor Of Physiology Group, Tabriz University Of Medical Science
5Obestetrics B.s.
Keywords: Triage, Emergency Department, Patients
Abstract
Introduction:
Organized triage has been useful in immediate classification of patients in large number. Urgent intervention and evaluation of patients in Emergency Department result in decreasing patients waiting time and, therefore, intensifying the quality of supervision. This study aimed at determining patient’s triage delay reasons in Emergency Department of Tabriz.
Methods and Materials:
This descriptive study was conducted in 18 hospitals of Tabriz. Questionnaire was the only tool used in data collection. They were filled in by selected samples (22 physicians and 135 nurses of Emergency Department). To analyze the findings, SPSS 15.0 statistical software and statistical -descriptive analysis were used.
Results:
Findings of this study indicate that 75% of the survey was conducted in public and 25% in private hospitals. Based on the study, major reasons of delay in patients priority processing include lack of enough nursing staff (65%), large number of patients(50.3%), lack of enough medical staff (38.2%), shortage of hospital resources (31.2%), shortage of medical equipment (26.8%), patients evaluation (13.4%), diagnostic tests (12.1%), advanced age of patients (5.7%), early age of patients (5.1%)
Discussion and Conclusions:
Results of the study indicate that some of the major reasons of delay in priority processing of patients include lack of enough nursing staff and large number of patients. Therefore, increasing staff number can be an efficient way to control patients’ population in Emergency Department.