Qual Saf Health Care
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Qual Saf Health Care · Jun 2007
Multicenter StudySafety of telephone triage in general practitioner cooperatives: do triage nurses correctly estimate urgency?
In recent years, there has been a growth in the use of triage nurses to decrease general practitioner (GP) workloads and increase the efficiency of telephone triage. The actual safety of decisions made by triage nurses has not yet been assessed. ⋯ Telephone triage by triage nurses is efficient but possibly not safe, with potentially severe consequences for the patient. An educational programme for triage nurses is recommended. Also, a direct second safety check of all cases by a specially trained GP telephone doctor is advisable.