Introduction: Mental health triage is a new nursing practice concept that is less studied and defined, especially among Iranian nurses. Therefore, this study aimed to explain the concept of mental health triage from the perspective of psychiatric emergency department (ED) nurses.
Methods: This qualitative study collected data using semi-structured interviews with psychiatric ED nurses. Sampling was purposive and continued until data saturation. Analysis was conducted using conventional content analysis, as described in Griesheim and Landman approach.
Results: 15 psychiatric ED nurses with the mean age of 35.13 ± 8.44 years were interviewed (60% male). Finally, two themes, five categories, and 16 sub-categories emerged from data analysis. Two themes emerged, including mental health triage meaning and mental health triage structure. The former included two categories of the nature and characteristics of mental health triage, and the latter consisted of three categories of mental state exploration from surface to depth, safety control measures, and the degree of emergency. According to the "degree of emergency" category, nurses could not make triage decisions based on their perceptions in an acceptable way.
Conclusion: Psychiatric ED nurses have an appropriate understanding of mental health triage meaning. However, according to these nurses, its structure is associated with shortcomings that limit the provision of mental health triage services and reduce their quality.
Keywords: Emergency services; Mental health; Risk assessment; Triage; psychiatric.