• Estrella Martínez-Segura, Mar Lleixà-Fortuño, Teresa Salvadó-Usach, Elena Solà-Miravete, Mireia Adell-Lleixà, Manel R Chanovas-Borrás, Gemma March-Pallarés, and Gerard Mora-López.
• Servicio de Urgencias, Hospital Verge de la Cinta, Tortosa, Tarragona, España. Departamento de Enfermería, Campus Terres de l'Ebre, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tortosa, Tarragona, España.
• Emergencias. 2017 Jun 1; 29 (3): 173-177.

ObjectivesTo identify associations between sociodemographic characteristics variables and competence levels of triage nurses in hospital emergency departments.Material And MethodsDescriptive, cross-sectional, multicenter study of triage nurses in hospital emergency departments in the southwestern area of Catalonia (Ebre River territory). We used an instrument for evaluating competencies (the COM_VA questionnaire) and recording sociodemographic variables (age, sex, total work experience, emergency department experience, training in critical patient care and triage) and perceived confidence when performing triage. We then analyzed the association between these variables and competency scores.ResultsCompetency scores on the COM_VA questionnaire were significantly higher in nurses with training in critical patient care (P=.001) and triage (P=0.002) and in those with longer emergency department experience (P<.0001). Perceived confidence when performing triage increased with competency score (P<.0001) and training in critical patient care (P<.0001) and triage (P=.045).ConclusionThe competence of triage nurses and their perception of confidence when performing triage increases with emergency department experience and training.

24 keywords...

hide…