The effectiveness of nurse-led outpatient referral triage decision making in pediatric otolaryngology.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of nurse-led triage of outpatient referrals in an academic pediatric otolaryngology practice.

METHODS: Three hundred consecutive outpatient referrals were reviewed and triaged by two otolaryngology registered nurses and two attending pediatric otolaryngologists. The nurses received triage training. The referrals were triaged as 'routine' (to be seen within 2-3 months), 'semi-urgent' (to be seen within 6 weeks), or 'urgent' (to be seen within 2 weeks). Weighted Kappa statistics (correcting for chance agreement) were performed to assess for the degree of agreement. After the consultation visits, patient records were reviewed to determine whether any referrals had been inappropriately triaged by the nurses.

RESULTS: Overall, there was substantial agreement between all raters. Specifically, weighted Kappa statistics were as follows: surgeon 1, nurse 1: 0.708; surgeon 1, nurse 2: 0.670; surgeon 2, nurse 1: 0.762; surgeon 2, nurse 2: 0.647; nurse 1, nurse 2: 0.756; and surgeon 1, surgeon 2: 0.784. Review of patient charts after consultation showed that no referrals were deemed to be inappropriately triaged and no urgent cases had been missed.

CONCLUSIONS: Our model of nurse-led triage of outpatient referrals was found to be effective and safe. Similar systems may be considered in other areas of medicine as a viable and acceptable alternative to the traditional physician-led triage practice.