This study aims to evaluate the effect of a Manchester Triage System-based digital decision support system on emergency nurses' triage accuracy and agreement. Triage is the process of assessing patients when they arrive at the emergency department and determining how urgently they need care. In this study, emergency nurses will first perform routine triage without using the digital system. They will then receive training on the Manchester Triage System and the use of the digital decision support system. In the following phase, nurses will perform triage using their usual clinical assessment and the digital system. The study will compare nurses' triage decisions before and after the intervention and examine the agreement between nurses' decisions and the digital system. The study will be conducted in the adult emergency department of Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital in Nicosia, Northern Cyprus. The findings may help determine whether a digital decision support system can improve the consistency and accuracy of emergency triage decisions.
This study will evaluate the effect of a Manchester Triage System (MTS)-based digital decision support system (MTS-DSS) on emergency nurses' triage accuracy and triage concordance. The study will use a single-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design and will be conducted in the adult emergency department of Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital, Nicosia, Northern Cyprus. Emergency nurses participating in the study will first perform routine triage according to their usual clinical practice during the pretest phase. Patient-related triage information, including presenting complaint and relevant clinical findings, will be recorded by the researcher. The nurses will subsequently receive structured training on the Manchester Triage System and the use of the digital decision support system. Following the training period, nurses will perform triage during the posttest phase. The nurse will initially make a triage decision based on clinical assessment and will then enter the relevant patient information into the MTS-DSS. The system will provide a triage category based on the MTS algorithms. The nurse may retain or change the initial triage decision after viewing the system output. The primary evaluations will compare triage accuracy before and after the intervention and assess the concordance between nurses' triage decisions and the MTS-DSS output. Nurse-related characteristics and relevant patient characteristics will also be recorded to describe the study population and examine factors associated with triage decisions. The digital decision support system is web-based and will be accessed through password-protected accounts. The system will not be integrated with the hospital information system. Patient information will be recorded using study-specific codes rather than directly identifying information. Participation of nurses will be voluntary.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
16
The intervention consists of structured Manchester Triage System (MTS) education followed by the use of a web-based MTS-based digital decision support system. Emergency nurses will receive training on the principles, triage categories, algorithms, and discriminators of the MTS, as well as on the use of the digital system. During the posttest phase, nurses will first perform triage based on their clinical assessment and then enter the relevant patient information into the digital decision support system. The system will generate an MTS triage category based on the applicable MTS algorithm. The intervention is designed to support nurses' triage decision-making and improve triage accuracy and concordance.
Triage Accuracy of Emergency Nurses
The accuracy of emergency nurses' triage decisions will be assessed by comparing the nurses' assigned triage categories with the reference triage category determined according to the Manchester Triage System (MTS). Triage accuracy will be evaluated during the pretest and posttest phases to determine whether the MTS-based digital decision support system improves nurses' triage accuracy.
Time frame: Participants will be evaluated in 3 stages: Stage 1, 4-week pre-intervention assessment; Stage 2, 17-day MTS training and clinical adaptation; Stage 3, 4-week post-intervention assessment.
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