We are about to try it, having successfully bid for a bit of money for
kit. We are going to have a small room where the "walking wounded"
majors patients will have their full ECG, urine etc done, and then if
Ok be sat out in the waiting area to wait. However, is this not what
we have all done informally for years, as the ambulance crew handover
patients, quick assessment by nurse and then go to a cubicle for a
full assessment. Problem being this way that the quick assessment is
either a "he/she looks ok and can go to minors" or a "we're full,
you'll have to go to minors", at least that is what it feels like.
Triage must be the worst job in the department, with the least thanks
and the most aggro, especially the triage nurse out the front. There
must be some way to improve the working life of those who do it, and
fulfil the function, ie identify the sickest/most seriously injured
for priority treatment, not just prepare them perfectly for the doctor
to see them!.
Ruth
-------------------
> We have wondered about this too, Rowley, as our triage nurse is
currently
> too busy to fully assess patients. And I believe there is a clear
need for
> full nurse "assessment", not just obs, but to include x-rays, ECGs
and
> bloods as appropriate. This way we won't miss anything serious for
too long,
> and it also streamlines the medic's interaction with the patient
several
> hours down the line. We have thought about the concept of a triage
nurse,
> for sorting, and a secondary "assessment" nurse, for fuller work-up.
Has
> anyone else got experience of this type of "enhancement" of the
triage
> process? Please let me know, via the List or privately, as we're
about to
> spend some money on the concept!
>
> Regards
>
> Adrian Fogarty
> A&E Consultant
> Royal Free Hospital
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Rowley Cottingham
> Subject: Assessment
>
>
> > I am currently scratching my head about the deterioration I am
seeing in
> "triage" times. A couple of years ago everyone
> > wanted it reclassified as assessment as it was supposedly a more
complex
> process than simply sorting, but I note that the
> > terminology has slipped back to triage. No matter. How do busier
Units
> than mine cope with the workload through a
> > single assessment nurse? Somewhere seeing 100,000 patients a year
will see
> an average 270 patients a day or so. If
> > everyone is to be seen within 15 minutes, each patient can only be
seen
> for 5 minutes, and at peak times much less.
> > Bearing in mind linguistic difficulties and so on, how much
assessment can
> be done in that time?
>
> > Best wishes,
>
> > Rowley Cottingham
>
>
>
|