Overview
The Children’s Waiting Room Nurse (WR) is responsible for the reassessment of all paediatric patients within the children’s waiting room. The WR nurse will work closely with the triage nurses and to initiate early interventions and ensure the safety of patients in the waiting room. The children’s waiting room nurse may utilise the Children’s Triage Assessment Room (CTAR) to initiate care.
The frequent reassessment of patients in the waiting room performed by the paediatric WR nurse will decrease the likelihood of clinical deterioration in the waiting room, as the paediatric WR nurse can identify markers of deterioration and escalate it 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 paediatric 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 NIC or the delegated Medical Officer in accordance with the clinical needs of the patient.
- Provide compassionate and effective communication to patients and carers.
- Triage nurses, to expedite treatment such as administration of analgesia or ordering of X-Rays to help reduce the time to decision making.
- The WR nurse will document time of reassessment and vital signs on EDIS and utilitse 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 Documents
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