Educational intervention in triage with the Swedish triage scale RETTS©, with focus on specialist nurse students in ambulance and emergency care - A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim: To determine the reliability of application of the RETTS© triage scale after an educational intervention using paper-based scenarios in emergency care education.

Background: Knowledge about and education in triage are important factors in triagescale implementation. Presenting students with a large number of triage scenarios is a common part of triage education.

Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study at two universities students undergoing education in emergency care used RETTS© to assess triage level in 46 paper-based scenarios.

Results: 57 students in the study made 2590 final triage decisions. Fleiss Kappa for final triage was 0.411 which is in the lower range of moderate agreement. In 25 of 46 (53.4%) scenarios, final triage levels did not agree about whether the case was stable or unstable.

Conclusion/implications: Application of the RETTS© triage scale after an educational intervention with paper-based simulation in emergency care education resulted in moderate agreement about the final levels of triage.

Keywords: Cross-sectional; Educational intervention; Emergency care education; Paper-based simulation; RETTS©; Registered Nurse; Reliability; Triage.