Effect of a Triage Educational Intervention on Nurses’ Knowledge and the Efficiency of Urgent Care in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Emergency department overcrowding affects patient safety and service efficiency. Although the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) is widely imple-mented in Saudi Arabia, variability in triage accuracy remains as a result of limited formal training. This study assessed the impact of a structured CTAS educational intervention on nurses’ triage knowledge and the performance of a hospital-based urgent care center. Method: A quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design was used. Fif-teen nurses at a high-volume urgent care center completed a 1-day CTAS Proficiency Training Course. A 15-item scenario-based questionnaire measured knowledge before and after training. The urgent care center time-based indicators (registration-to-triage, triage-to-decision, and total length of stay) were extracted for 1 month before and after the intervention, covering 33,720 patient visits. Data were analyzed with the Mann–Whitney U and Wil-coxon signed-rank tests. Results: Knowledge scores improved significantly (p =.015). All of the urgent care center time intervals decreased (p