title: Triage, not just for the emergency department: a discussion of the appropriate level of care for the transitioning infant.
abstract: Determining the appropriate placement for infants experiencing a delay in transition or who require more intensive assessment, monitoring, and nursing care can be a challenge. Not all of these infants need to be admitted to the NICU. Since 1994, we have had a triage program to care for these infants. We define triage as a temporary (12 hours or fewer) level of care for monitoring, assessment, and intervention. This level of care is more intensive than in the newborn nursery, but the infant does not require an immediate NICU admission. Caring for these infants presents challenges in staffing, family-centered care, and reimbursement. This article shares information on the evolution of our triage program, its benefits to infants and their families, and how it is integrated into our NICU practices.
authors.affiliation: York Hospital, NICU, PA, USA. ballison@wellspan.org
authors.forename: Beth Ann
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Burcin
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010343:Patient Admission; D010351:Patient Discharge; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D014218:Triage / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*