As nurses, we’ve been asked it a dozen times: “you’re a nurse, do you know about…?” Oftentimes, the answer is yes, we do know generalized information about many topics related to injuries and illnesses. However, there are many specialties within nursing, all of which collectively ensure that a nurse can provide competent care to their patients that require diverse and varying medical treatment. The emergency department is often the point of entry for people seeking medical care, requiring nurses and physicians to stabilize, manage, and treat every type of injury or illness. As a result, emergency nurses typically become a “jack of all trades”, situating them to eventually become the medical professional who can accurately and quickly assess an injury or illness upon entering the doors of the emergency department – the triage nurse.
The purpose of this blog is to explain why triage nurses should be your go-to for occupational injuries or illnesses. We will explain what a triage nurse is, offer insights into the common steps these individuals require to become a triage nurse, and the value they ultimately provide.
What is a Triage Nurse?
A triage nurse has proven that they have the competency, discernment, critical-thinking skills, and experience to be the first person to assess an injured or ill person. They are equipped to quickly understand how injured or ill that person is, assign a triage score, and consequently, determine the timeframe and order in which they are moved from the waiting room to a treatment space to see a physician.
Workplace injuries occur, present themselves, and require treatment in many different ways. Triage nurses are the ones who determine the initial needs of the worker, and determine appropriate next steps. As such, this is why a triage nurse should be your team’s go-to for accurate and quick assessments as soon as a workplace injury occurs. They possess extensive years of training and experience at the bedside to competently and confidently do so, directly assisting injured workers down the correct path of recovery right away.
What Does it Take to Become a Triage Nurse?
To become “triage trained”, a triage nurse is typically required to spend many shifts in different “sections” of the emergency department. They start off caring for those with lower acuity injuries and illnesses, and once competency has been proven, they move on to care for higher acuity injuries and illnesses before becoming a triage nurse. To provide an example of the steps that a nurse will take to become triage trained, the next few sections walk through a common occupational mechanism of injury, a twisted ankle.
A nurse is typically hired into an emergency department after years of working on a med-surg or acute care ward. The people they are caring for on these units are usually stable despite their condition requiring admission to the hospital. Upon hire, these nurses usually begin their journey in a minor treatment area of an emergency department. In the example of your worker with a twisted ankle, this would be the case where your worker is able to walk on the injured ankle. There may be swelling but no significant deformities, no extreme pain, perhaps some bruising, but no past medical history that indicates a risk for significant bleeding. The purpose of this, from the nurse’s perspective, is to learn what is normal in the presence of this ankle injury. In turn, when something not normal presents itself, it can be identified as a “red flag” that requires advocacy for the escalation of care.
After competencies are established in a stable, minor treatment area, the nurse graduates to a higher acuity area where the patients are typically still considered stable. This would be your worker who has twisted their ankle and may be experiencing higher levels of pain and/or significant swelling. Perhaps they are maintaining good blood flow to the foot but cannot bear weight on the ankle. Alternatively, they may have significant bruising with concerns of more bleeding than normal to the injured site. This worker would require more frequent reassessment and care, situating them to be seen by a doctor faster than the worker in the previous example would. The reason for this is they have evident “red flags” associated with their twisted ankle that will likely require additional or more specialized treatment.
After acquiring this valuable knowledge and experience, the nurse would move to the highest acuity area of the emergency room, caring for the sickest and most acute patients. These nurses require additional courses and training to be certified to care for these patients. If your worker twisted their ankle and had an obvious deformity that was causing significant, unbearable pain, had an exposed bone or evidence of compromised blood flow to the foot, or significant bleeding or swelling that indicated uncontrolled bleeding within the ankle area, they would be treated here. Care is essentially constant, where the doctor is almost immediately involved to intervene and either provide or order treatment. These workers would need more urgent and complex treatment than the example of the worker in the lower acuity area. To succeed as a nurse in this area requires a deep understanding of anatomy and physiology with strong critical thinking skills. Essentially, nurses in this area care for people who have “life or limb” threatened where the red flags are very much present and time is of the essence.
The Value of a Triage Nurse
So how do these workers, who all twisted their ankle with a varying degree of severity, end up in the right area of the emergency department? The triage nurse. The triage nurse “sorts” people as they come through the door, determining who requires urgent treatment and who can wait longer to be seen. This is accomplished by leveraging previously acquired expertise that the triage nurse now possesses to indicate the presence of red flags. They do this by asking strategic and targeted questions, which results in timely, targeted assessments on the spot. These are nurses who have become extremely sharp in identifying red flags because they’ve previously seen and cared for all the different levels of injury or illness related to the same mechanism – in this case: a twisted ankle. They have a deep understanding of anatomy, physiology, and how the body reacts in the presence of an injury or illness. They’ve also completed specialized training and acquired additional certifications, specifically, the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale certification, which is the National Emergency Nurse’s Association’s standard of professional development and competency for triage nurses.
Baron’s Nurses Are Your Go-To for Occupational Injuries
Baron’s Healthcare division is staffed exclusively with triage trained nurses. In other words, our staff has acquired the very valuable knowledge and expertise in emergency rooms that is required to offer efficient Virtual Triage services. Through this service, we ask your injured worker targeted questions to immediately determine what is normal vs not normal and ultimately identify red flags – similarly to how an emergency department triage nurse would. From there, we advise on next steps and work directly with your injured worker and company representative through these next steps. Perhaps this means applying a tensor bandage, resting it, elevating it, applying ice, and monitoring over the next hours or days to see if things progressively improve or if symptoms worsen and an escalation of care is required. Alternatively, it may be the recommendation of coordinating an appointment at a local OIS clinic or attending a walk-in or urgent care so your worker isn’t tied up waiting in the emergency room for hours with a lower acuity injury. Worst case scenario, our nurses may identify significant red flags that warrant a trip to the emergency room or a call to 911.
With our Virtual Triage service, our nurses take the guessing game out of injuries by providing a direct channel to get answers immediately. We support and guide your workers, supervisors, health and safety advisors, or whoever it may be to ensure that your worker is getting appropriate and timely care. Above all, we’ve gone through the ranks of the emergency room and have truly “seen it all”, both of which are illustrated through this service and naturally situate our team as your go-to for all occupational injuries.
Every company’s needs are unique. Book a free 30-minute consultation to learn how our Virtual Triage services can support your workplace health and safety goals!
This blog is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional regarding any specific injury, symptoms, or concerns. If you believe you may be experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department. Baron Health & Safety Consultants is not responsible for any loss, injury, or damages resulting from reliance on the information contained within this blog.