Explore your clinical site and relate one quality improvement (QI) study currently being analyzed. What is benchmarked in the study? What role does the nurse play in the QI study?

Explore your clinical site and relate one quality improvement (QI) study currently being analyzed. What is benchmarked in the study? What role does the nurse play in the QI study?

The quality improvement study that is currently being analyzed in my clinical site of an emergency department is the use of an effective emergency triage system. According to Zachariasse et al. (2019), an effective emergency triage system should prioritize both nontrauma and trauma patients according to their level of acuity and also consider the resource availability and the local disease burden. The role of the nurse in the quality improvement initiative involving the use of an effective emergency triage system, being actively involved in the completion of triage forms, and attending to patients in the emergency department. The quality improvement study involving the use of an effective emergency triage system is therefore benchmarking the under triage rate in the emergency department. According to Zachariasse et al. (2019), an under-triage rate that exceeds 5% will result in significant patient safety concerns.

References

Li, S., Cao, M., & Zhu, X. (2019). Evidence-based practice. Medicine, 98(39), e17209. https://doi.org/10.1097/md.0000000000017209

Zachariasse, J. M., van der Hagen, V., Seiger, N., Mackway-Jones, K., van Veen, M., & Moll, H. A. (2019). Performance of triage systems in emergency care: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 9(5), e026471. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026471