Asian Oncol Nurs.  2017 Dec;17(4):246-251. 10.5388/aon.2017.17.4.246.

Triage and Length of Stay in a Cancer Center Emergency Department

• Ha BH
• Park JY

• KMID: 2401640
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5388/aon.2017.17.4.246

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify the triage and length of stay of cancer patients who visited an emergency department in a cancer center.
METHODS
Aretrospective descriptive study design was used. Data were collected from medical records of patients who visited an emergency room from March 7 to June 30, 2016. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Walis tests.
RESULTS
In total, 2,699 cancer patients visited the emergency room excluding cases with insufficient records. The mean age was 58.7±18.7 years, and males were 47.0% and 56.0%, respectively. In triage, 184 (6.8%) were "˜emergency' patients, 823 (30.5%) were "˜urgent', and 1,692 (62.7%) were the most "˜non-emergency' patients. The average stay of length in the emergency room was 5.79±7.69 hours.
CONCLUSION
These findings show that development of triage tool and communication system with staff are needed to reduce overcrowding and length of stay of the emergency department.

Keyword

Triage; Length of Stay; Neoplasms; Emergencies

MeSH Terms

Emergencies*
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Humans
Length of Stay*
Male
Medical Records
Triage*