Overview
The Adult Waiting Room Nurse (WR) is responsible for the reassessment of all adult patients within the adult waiting room.
The WR nurse will work closely with the Triage Nurses and the Adult Triage Assessment Room (ATAR) Nurse to initiate early interventions and ensure the safety of patients in the waiting room.
The frequent reassessment of patients in the waiting room should align with the patients ATS Triage scale allocation (Cat 3- 30mins, Cat 4 – 60mins, Cat 5 – 120mins) A priority is to be given Category 3 patients and patients who are nearing or have exceeded the recommended ATS wait time.
Reassessments performed by the WR nurse will decrease the likelihood of unidentified clinical deterioration in the waiting room. The WR Nurse is trained to identify markers of deterioration and escalate to the triage staff accordingly.
Responsibilities
The SHED NUM, SHED Directors and SHED Educators are responsible for ensuring that all staff within the department are aware of the Emergency Triage roles and responsibilities.
Role Details
- Receive handover from previous shift nurse, check and re-stock equipment required for triage assessment.
- Complete a set of vital signs and a basic assessment on all patients in the waiting room, giving priority to category 3 patients and patients who are nearing or have exceeded the recommended ATS wait time.
- Escalate any concerns or markers of clinical deterioration to the Triage Nurse, who can then reassess and escalate to the Nurse In Charge (NIC), or the designated Medical Officer, in accordance with the clinical needs of the patient.
- Provide compassionate and effective communication to patients and carers.
- Liaise with the ATAR and Triage nurses, to expedite treatment such as ECG’s, pathology and administration of analgesia and reduce the time to clinical decision making.
- The WR nurse will document time of reassessment and vital signs on EDIS and utilise the comments section on EDIS to track patients in the WR in need of reassessment.
- Ensure the waiting room is stocked, clean and tidy prior to end of shift.
- Provide compassionate and effective communication to patients and carers to ensure a positive patient experience.
Supporting Documentation
Nil
