Abstract

Background and purpose: In triage decision-making process, in addition to patient other factors such as knowledge and clinical skills of triage nurses, environment and also equipment have a major role. Ultimately through the effect of these factors triage nurse achieve maximum assurance about the accuracy of your decision making. This study aimed to determine the most important factors associated with hospital triage decision making from the viewpoint of emergency nurses. Materials and Methods: In this analytic–cross sectional study 291 nurses working in emergency departments were selected by convenience sampling method.for data collection a questionnaire was used that assessed personalized job information, personnel factors and non-personnel factors related to ward and patient. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 23 and descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Friedman and Bonferroni methods. Results: An exploratory factor analysis showed 3 factors including equipment, triage nurses’ location and responsibilities assigned to the triage nurse with 13 items. These 3 factors explained 60/90% of the variance of the questionnaire with Cronbach's Alpha 0.74. Friedman and Bonferroni tests also identified in personnel factors "experience", in non- personnel factors related to ward "unit crowdedness, shortage of nurses in each shift and work volume" and in non- personnel factors related to patient "pain, vital signs and type of injury respectively "as the most important factors. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that improvement of the management and physical structure of emergency departments, the use of experienced and trusted staff on triage, as well as the allocation of resources for the improvement of triage activities should be highlighted.