for example a person is assigned to triage unit what do they do.
Answer:
Triage is used in a hospital to determine the severity of your complaints and is then used by the head nurse to determine what patient is seen first. The most severe cases are always seen first (such as heart patients, accident victims, etc) but if you just go in with just cold symptoms, you wait will be a very long one, as that's not considered "top" priority.
Help determine which cases are most emergent (the worst goes first).
triage is the first entry to determine the seriousness of your injuries.it is then at this time that the docs/nurses will determine the level you will be for entry...for example.serious injuries that may result in death will go first.if you have the flu...you will have to wait.
Triage is used when there are more patients than practioners, particulary in urgent or emergency care. To triage means to "sort" the patients as to who needs to be seen first, who must be seen now and who can wait.If you've ever been to the ER and you've noticed they don't call people in order, then this is why. Typically each hospital has a triage policy to guide the nurses in making these decisions.Hope that helps! Good luck and best wishes!
they decide who needs STAT immediate attention according to the symptoms the patient presents
Triage is the term usually pertaining to disaster scenarios where a large number of injured people must be cared for very quickly, in a short period of time. A supervisor will evaluate each persons' injuries and assign priorities so that the most seriously injured people will be cared for first, in descending order. These priorities are usually assigned with severity of bleeding first, along with issues of breathing difficulty. I used to know a trick acronym taught by Red Cross First Aid, but I can't think of it right now.
Triage is employed in a mass casualty situation. The triage person(s) examine each casualty upon arrival and decides whether this person needs immediate treatment, needs treatment but can be safely delayed while more serious cases are attended to, or is expected to die. It is one of the most important and most stressful of assignments, but in order to successfully aid the most people in time of disaster, it is absolutely as essential as that of the surgeon(s). The triage officer is ideally an experienced trauma physician or nurse.
Triage is a French word for sorting in order of importance.
It was first used in WW1 when Doctor and Medics had to work out who was serious enough to be seen first and who could wait. Some where so lifethreatening but had to be left because it was a waste of time to treat them.
They now use the Triage system in the ER.
Triage 1- Is life threatening emergency. see immediantly.
Triage 2- Is life threatening but can wait for up to 10 or 15 minutes.
Triage 3- Is needs to be seen as soon as possible.
Triage 4- Is non emergency. Needs to be seen as soon as possible.
Triage 5- Is non emergency. Non urgent. Can wait AAAALLLL night. Should have seen your Doctor.
This statement is actually a really good single line summary of what the average triage nurse in virtually every ER in this country is forced to do just about everyday. It’s a scary job to have. In my city on a good day you have about 10 to 15 people at any given time waiting for god knows how long to get to see a doctor. Hopefully none of these people are really too ill and in the end you bank on the fact that usually before anything goes wrong with them, they’re safely inside and being seen, well usually. Did I mention that was a good day?A bad day and more the norm is 30 to 40 people in the waiting room; every bed in the emergency full; not to mention all the trauma rooms in use and 3 ambulances waiting with god knows what for you to pass judgment on. Of course just when you think it can’t any worse the air ambulance radio’s in and announces they’ll be there in 10 minutes.Now about this time any sane person would be pulling their hair out or screaming incoherently at anyone who would listen. But not a good triage nurse! Most of the ones I know will simply take a deep breath and just keep going and do the best they can. All the time knowing that it is entirely possible that someone may die because they had to make them wait. Keep in mind the key statement here “Had to make them wait”, not because they made a mistake in judging the severity of their illness but because they had to make them wait! The funny thing is if some does die in the waiting room, 9 chances out 10 the triage nurse will be the first one named in the law suit, not to mention the less than flattering coverage in the press. Funny though for some reason the legal system doesn’t recognize “No room at the inn” as a valid defense.In addition to those “minor pressures”, you also have to deal with almost continuous phone call from every dumb *** general practitioner who rather than examine a patient sends them to ER because they think they might have appendicitis. If I had a dime for every acute appendix rushed in from a family Doctor who than went home a few hours later with no surgery; well let’s just say I wouldn’t be having to worry the line ups at the emergency unit, I’d be sitting on the beach of my private island!But wait, it gets better! Haven’t got enough phone calls and paramedics screaming for your attention; than there is the endless line up at the window of the patients who managed to come to the hospital under their own power! Of course hidden at random in that cross section of humanity is the person who really thinks the toe he stubbed two weeks ago is more important than the little 87 year old lady in front of them who either can’t speak English to tell you she’s having crushing chest pain, or she is simply to polite to make a fuss. Did I mention the visitors? Those kind souls who come to visit their usually over reactive friends (a great example of birds of a feather) who love to announce that they “know their rights” and they don’t have to follow the rules of the hospital or good manners when you tell them they can’t come in right now.Of course still stinging from the humiliation they have heaped upon you, than you get to deal with the pissed of person whose been in the waiting room for god knows how long. Who may or may not have a legitimate problem and in a brilliant display of logic decides if the visitor can do it why can’t I? So they launch in to an eloquent verbal tirade in front of the entire waiting room plus a good number of your co-workers using language that would make your average Texas prison guard blush.Think this is me over stating the point? It’s not, I’ve had days like that. It’s one the reasons why I don’t do triage anymore! I’m lucky, my last two nursing managers understand that some people just can’t do triage and doesn’t push the issue. Not every emergency unit is lucky enough to have enlightened managers.Let me be clear here! Not doing triage anymore is not reflection of a lack of skill on my part. Trust me when I say this! When it comes to making decisions in regards to who goes where, or what’s wrong with that patient, I’m the best or at least in the top 10 percent. For me I don’t do triage because I have a character flaw, a short coming of sorts. You see despite my best efforts to control my body language for some reason people rapidly figure out I have problems tolerating being abused and bullied by people. I have actually had a person step back from the window because of the way I looked at them when they started to lip off to me. Despite what you may think, this is not something I’m proud of! I view it as a failure on my part and one more indication of what a crappy nurse I really am.Several unit clerks who sit near the triage once told me that when I was on the job they used to have bets about how long it would be before I would politely but directly read someone the riot act. I found out later they apparently also had side bets regarding how long it would be before I simply lost it and pulled someone through the paper slot in the not so bullet proof glass that is supposed to protect us from aggressive patients, or is it the other way around? There are other reasons for me not doing triage anymore, the lack of support and understanding from the people who should know better would be one of them.These last three paragraphs have not been about me blowing my own horn. Well, maybe a little! They have been to let you know that I am talking from real experience. So when I tell you the next time you come to the hospital and you think the triage nurse is ignoring you! Or being rude because he or she didn’t smile enough! Or they forgot to tell you they’re name! Or any of the other half assed reasons people like to come up with when they complain about the treatment they got at the hands of the triage nurse, than perhaps you’ll remember this little essay and this final little word of advice:Give the people at the window a break! Believe it or not they are trying to help and they do care.I’ll tell you one more thing, they’re better nurses and better people than I will ever be!
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