• Emerg Med J · Nov 2011

    Can emergency department nurses performing triage predict the need for admission?

    • Iain Beardsell.
    • Department of Emergency Medicine, Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, Tremona Road, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK. iain.beardsell@suht.swest.nhs.uk
    • Emerg Med J. 2011 Nov 1;28(11):959-62.

    ObjectiveTo investigate whether nurses performing triage are able to predict the need for admission of patients attending the emergency department (ED) with sufficient accuracy to facilitate hospital bed management.MethodsA prospective observational study was performed in which nurses performing triage, in a large urban UK hospital, were asked to predict whether patients would ultimately be admitted or discharged from the ED.Results3144 patients attended the ED during the trial period, of which 296 were excluded from the study. The positive predictive value of the nurse performing triage's prediction for the whole study cohort was 54.23.ConclusionPredicting admission at triage is not sufficiently accurate to inform hospital in-patient bed management systems. The decision to admit can only be determined after a comprehensive clinical work up and patients cannot be accurately 'signposted' during the triage process.

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