title: The effects of intervention on quality of telephone triage at an emergency unit in Finland: Nurses' perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a nurse training intervention on the assessment of patients' care needs in telephone triage at an emergency unit. The objective of this study was to generate information about nurse training that can be utilized when developing telephone triage and health care education.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  With the growing number of patients coming into emergency departments and a lack of resources in healthcare, it would be valuable to determine an effective training intervention in telephone triage, particularly when assessing the training needs of nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was quasi-experimental, with a pre- and post-test design.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data were collected from the nurses at the emergency department and joint emergency service of the Central Hospital in Northern Finland (baseline n = 28, post-test n = 26). The descriptive statistic, Fisher's χ(2) test and McNemar's test were used to analyse the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The intervention improved nurses' skills to evaluate patients' needs and health condition via the telephone triage. There was a statistically significant difference in the resources, knowledge, skills and attitudes of the nurses between the baseline and post-test measurements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The nurse training intervention improved the quality of telephone triage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nurses should receive continuous training in telephone triage in order to maintain and reinforce their professional competence. When planning the training, the age and relevant work experience of the nurses should be taken into consideration as well, since the results indicate that they lead to variation in the nurses' competence.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Nursing Science and Health Management, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. Electronic address: pirjo.kaakinen@oulu.fi.
authors.forename: Pirjo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaakinen
authors.affiliation: Unit of Nursing Science and Health Management, Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Helvi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kyngäs
authors.affiliation: Social and Health Care, Vocational College Lappia, Finland.
authors.forename: Kaisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tarkiainen
authors.affiliation: Unit of Nursing Science and Health Management, University of Oulu, University Hospital of Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kääriäinen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016529:Emergency Nursing / Q000193:education*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D015277:Hotlines / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014218:Triage / Q000379:methods*; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Counselling; Hospital; Intervention; Nurse; Quality; Telephone triage