function for half sheets in triage

[nurse ninja]

I want to get some input of why your facility utilizes half sheets for patients wanting to be seen in your ED. So why do we use half sheets?

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

In the LTC and hospital settings they're there to ease with transfers and also helpful in pulling patients up in bed.

[nurse ninja]

sorry let me clarify. Half sheets as in the half piece of paper pts feel out prior to being triaged. why do we use these?

[roser13, ASN, RN]

In the LTC and hospital settings they're there to ease with transfers and also helpful in pulling patients up in bed.

LOL! I thought you meant bedsheets as well. Never even entered my mind that you meant paper:lol2:

[Crocuta, RN]

In our ED, it functions as a sign in sheet. Registration then uses that to generate a patient account in the computer. That account is needed to sticker charts, or in an 100% electronic environment to much of any charting at all.

[saltwaterstat]

LOL! I thought you meant bedsheets as well. Never even entered my mind that you meant paper:lol2:

thanx for the laugh, it was just too funny! my initial inclination was paper for triaging...(altho maybe with a 3% of lifting/sliding,..ie bedsheets) !! ;->

[LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN]

ours are double, so the top one goes to registration to get that process going, the bottom one goes with the chart, and if in triage we get vitals and hx, meds, and allergies they get written on the half sheet and then that sheet gets handed to the nurse taking over care in the back

[AndyLyn]

Ours have the patient's name, birthdate, reason for visit and primary care dr.'s name. Registration takes the sheet and generates a "short form" from it that produces all the stickered pieces of the chart for the triage nurse.

We're in the process of doing some ED redesign, and I'm wondering if anyone uses the half sheets for a quick, patient produced medical/medication history, kind of like what they do in the doctor's office.

[Rickbos]

We use a patient generated triage form that has Name, DOB, Reason For Visit, PCP, Meds & Allergies. Because we are in a resort area, we ask for a telephone # they can be reached at while they are visiting so we can contact them if follow up is needed. This is signed by the patient, giving the patient some ownership in supplying accurate information, and is used as the med recon sheet as well as to aid with the registration process. PMH is not part of our triage form. We are not fully computerized so this is very helpful for initiation of treatment.

[Larry77, RN]

Before we had computer charting and tracking we used to have two "reg slips" (just the upper part of the page...one would go to registration and the other would get placed on the tracking board...now we just have one extra slip and it goes to registration to never be seen again :-)