Authors

Sergio Martínez Veny

Position

Diplomado en Enfermería. Servicio de Urgencias de la Fundación Hospital Son Llàtzer (Palma de Mallorca).

Contact address

C/ Alférez Dezcallar Alomar, 2-4º 1ª. 07010 Palma de Mallorca, Baleares.

Abstract

The affluence of patients to emergency services in hospitals has increased worldwide since last century. This phenomenon has shown the need to perform an initial assessment of the patient in order to prioritise the care needed and to refer the patient adequately to the corresponding emergency unit with the Emergency Department. This process of initial assessment is referred to as "triage". In order to carry out a triage assessment it is necessary to have properly trained personnel and to have the proper physical infrastructure within the service. In many Spanish hospitals the triage assessment is performed by nurses. Owing it to the university training received, the nurse can establish priorities and can refer to the patient to the appropriate service, optimising in this way, the human resources and materials of the emergency service. This improvement translates into an increased quality of care offered by all the emergency personnel.

Keywords:

triage; emergency care; patient classification; prioritisationreferral to emergency service

Versión en Español

Título:

Procedimiento de triage en la urgencia hospitalaria