Effect of a triage course on quality of rating triage codes in a group of university nursing students:a before-after observational study

摘要

BACKGROUND:Most current triage tools have been tested among hospital nurses groups but there are not similar studies in university setting.In this study we analyzed if a course on a new fourlevel triage model,triage emergency method(TEM),could improve the quality of rating in a group of nursing students.METHODS:This observational study was conducted with paper scenarios at the University of Parma,Italy.Fifty students were assigned a triage level to 105 paper scenarios before and after a course on triage and TEM.We used weighted kappa statistics to measure the inter-rater reliability of TEM and assessed its validity by comparing the students’ predictions with the triage code rating of a reference standard(a panel of five experts in the new triage method).RESULTS:Inter-rater reliability was K=0.42(95%Cl:0.37-0.46) before the course on TEM,and K=0.61(95%CI:0.56-0.67) after.The accuracy of students’ triage rating for the reference standard triage code was good:81%(95%Cl:71-90).After the TEM course,the proportion of cases assigned to each acuity triage level was similar for the student group and the panel of experts.CONCLUSION:Among the group of nursing students,a brief course on triage and on a new inhospital triage method seems to improve the quality of rating codes.The new triage method shows good inter-rater reliability for rating triage acuity and good accuracy in predicting the triage code rating of the reference standard.