COMMITTEE CHAIR: Dr. Sharisse Hebert

TITLE: IMPROVING TRIAGE DECISION-MAKING SELF-EFFICACY THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION OF AN EMERGENCY SEVERITY INDEX-INFORMED TRIAGE FRAMEWORK IN A WALK-IN FAMILY CLINIC

ABSTRACT: Background: Triage is an emergency process that helps in the early identification and ranking of patients requiring urgent medical attention. Although the standardized triage systems are already proven to be effective in the emergency department setting, informal triage systems are still employed by a majority of walk-in primary care clinics, which introduces inconsistency in patient prioritization and confidence of healthcare providers and medical assistants in making triage decisions. Purpose: The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement project is to determine the impact of a standardized triage tool and educational intervention on the self-efficacy of healthcare providers and medical assistants with regard to triage in a private walk-in family clinic. Methods: The project will use a single-group pretest-posttest design guided by the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework and Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory. The project will be implemented in two private family clinic settings in Houston, Texas. A convenience sample of approximately 12 healthcare providers and medical assistants from two private family clinics will be recruited to participate. The intervention will include the use of a standardized triage instrument and a one-hour educational session covering triage principles, high-risk presentations, patient prioritization, escalation guidelines, and documentation. The validated General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) will be used to measure self-efficacy pre- and post-intervention. Descriptive statistics will be used in summarizing participant characteristics, and a paired-samples t-test will be used to compare the level of self-efficacy scores before and after the intervention. The results of this project can be used to support the use of standardized triage procedures and specific education to enhance self-efficacy among staff, more consistent triage decision-making, and increase the provision of safe, timely, and evidence-based patient care in ambulatory care facilities.

Keywords: Triage, Self-efficacy, Primary Care Clinic

Zoom Link:

https://pvpanther.zoom.us/j/81296409104?pwd=n6mmT3obWsIrkwuH1OvzulG5m7hHoG.1

Meeting ID:812 9640 9104

Passcode: 345850