title: Provider in triage: is this a place for nurse practitioners?
abstract: The role of nurse practitioners (NPs) in emergency care continues to evolve. A new and exciting role is the provider-in-triage (PIT) role. This innovative role has been implemented in many emergency departments (EDs) across the country. It was developed primarily as a front-end strategy to improve throughput of patients receiving emergency care. The PIT process uses a provider, physician, NP, or physician assistant in the triage area. Patient satisfaction, quality measures, and financial improvements have been attributed to using a PIT. The emergency NP is an optimal choice for this role. Advanced emergency nursing knowledge, skills, and decision making confer the NP a cost-effective provider to improve throughput in the ED while providing quality emergency care.
authors.affiliation: VNA Healthcare, Aurora, Illinois (Ms Bahena); Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Chicago, Illinois (Ms Bahena and Dr Andreoni); and Emergency Department, Delnor Hospital, Geneva, Illinois (Dr Andreoni).
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bahena
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Andreoni
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D014218:Triage; D014481:United States