Triage in Ambulatory Care

[DFWRNStudent]

I have been researching Ambulatory Care Nursing and the use of triage in such settings. When there is a walk-in/urgent clinic where I work, we see patients based on their arrival time and number they were given by the front desk receptionist. The front desk receptionist is not a licensed nurse and is only a CMA who hasn't used that skillset since graduating. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a RN yet (still in school), but I work in an ER where I learn from the triage nurses a lot. I would like to help develop a plan to make an ambulatory acuity ranking level. I know Emergency Departments use Emergency Severity Index Version 4 (ESI), but what resources are available to Urgent Care Centers? We have protocols in place for S/S of MI, cardiac arrest and S/S of CVA. What else can we do to improve our process and patient flow. Seeing patients based on their arrival time sometimes bogs us down when certain patients can be seen and discharged within 20 minutes versus an hour. Any resources or implementation ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Happynurse12]

We use ESI at my urgent care. The receptionist will call out if they write down or say any red flag words, such as chest pain or testicular pain.

[DFWRNStudent]

We use ESI at my urgent care. The receptionist will call out if they write down or say any red flag words, such as chest pain or testicular pain.

Thanks HM3-2-BSN: How did you alter ESI to fit your organization? We are a teaching institution with Med Students and NP Students in addition to Mid-Levels and Physicians.