Patient Satisfaction With the Level of Competence of the Triage Nurse in Hospital Emergency Departments.
Meritxell López Hernández, Montserrat Puig-Llobet, Sergio Higon Fernández and 3 others
PMID 39739524WHAT IT FOUND
Patients were highly satisfied with triage nurse care.
Nurse competency, concern for pain, and answering questions went with satisfaction; experience and training did not.
Key findings
01Patients reported high satisfaction: 90.2% were satisfied, with an average score of 48.4 out of 60.
02Higher nurse competency scores were associated with higher patient satisfaction: each COM_VA point was linked to a 1.53-point CECSS increase, and being classified competent was linked to a 6.8-point increase.
03The satisfaction items most strongly correlated with total score were concern about pain and fears, and making sure questions were answered.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional survey, so it can show associations but not that nurse competence caused patient satisfaction. Only patients triaged as level III, IV, or V were included; patients with levels I and II were excluded, so the findings do not apply to the most urgent emergencies. The nurse sample was non-probability sampled, and the analysis included 77 nurses while the planned nurse sample was 110. Assistance was given to some elderly patients to read the questionnaire, which may have influenced answers. The study used only the professional competence subscale of CECSS and did not use the discharge information subscale. Nurses found COM_VA difficult to complete, with an average response rate of 80.58%. The competency measure relied on supervisor and self-assessment, not an independent clinical evaluation. Only two hospitals were studied.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the association between nurse competence and satisfaction as proof that competence causes satisfaction. The study was cross-sectional, and only patients triaged as level III, IV, or V were included.