Triage Development based on MOPH ED. Triage at Emergency and Forensic Department, Kantang Hospital, Trang

Abstract

This action research aimed to investigate the patient screening situation and subsequently develop and evaluate a proposed patient screening protocol based on MOPH ED. Triage for the emergency and forensic department at Kantang Hospital. The study comprised three phases. The initial phase involved exploring and analyzing the patient screening situation by gathering data from patient records and conducting a focus group with twenty nurses. The second phase focused on the development of the proposed patient screening protocol (PPSP) through expert panel consensus. The content validity of the PPSP was determined to be .95. Furthermore, the reliability of the PPSP was assessed using a sample of 40 nurses, yielding a Cronbach alpha coefficient value of .92. The final phase encompassed the testing and evaluation of the PPSP with a sample consisting of 20 nurses and 390 patients who visited the emergency and forensic department at Kantang Hospital. Research instruments utilized for data collection included patient records and a patient screening form. Qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis, while descriptive statistics were employed for quantitative data. During the first phase, it was observed that the emergency and forensic department at Kantang Hospital did not possess a standardized patient screening protocol, resulting in incomplete patient data records and numerous instances of patient screening errors. In the second phase, the PPSP was developed, encompassing screening protocols for accidents, emergencies, fast track stroke cases, and fast track STEMI cases. In the third phase, the implementation of the PPSP yielded results indicating an increase in the accuracy of patient screening from 71.84 percent to 92.92 percent. The incidence of under-triage was found to be 2.31 percent, while the incidence of over-triage was 4.87 percent. The multidisciplinary team members involved in the study expressed that the PPSP was practical and suitable for the context of Kantang Hospital. The utilization of the PPSP facilitated improved decision-making regarding the classification of patient groups, consequently enhancing the quality of emergency care provided.