Triage situation from the viewpoint of doctors and nurses in emergency departments of Tabriz hospitals in 2008

Triage is the process of prioritizing patients based on their medical needs; and the triage nurse is essential for this process. Most developed countries use different systems for triage in emergency department. This research aims to study the triage situation in hospital emergency departments of Tabriz city. In this descriptive study, 176 emergency doctors and nurses from emergency departments were studied in Tabriz. Data was gathered and analyzed by using standard questionnaire and SPSS-14 software. The results illustrated, the triage of emergency departments is organized, focusing on personnel who perform triage as well as the facilities, resources and triage procedures. However, the results indicated that the essentials of triage in Tabriz emergency department are not integrated. About 68.8% of respondents declared that there are not specialized nurses for emergency department. About 72% of respondents stated that there is not triage station in emergency department. About 65% of respondents declared that patients are triaged in the emergency department hall. Due to the lack of standardized and organized triage system in terms of allocation of human resources and prioritize patients, further research on triage in emergency departments, particularly in the areas of health personnel and more attention of health authorities for the implementation of standardized triage system is emphasized.