Telephone Triage Simulation: A Low Tech, Low Resource, Best Practice Design

Abstract :

Background: Telephone Triage is a nursing service used across multiple patient care settings. Despite the increased use of newer technology, this early form of telehealth is valuable to extend access to healthcare. Telephone triage requires a unique and complex skillset to appropriately identify a patient’s problem, estimate the level of urgency, and provide advice to the patient over the phone (Haddad et al., 2019). The majority of undergraduate nursing programs in the United States do not teach these skills. This project aimed to design a high-fidelity, low-resource Telephone Triage Simulation-Based Experience (SBE).

Method: A one-hour WebEx-based telephone-triage SBE was developed as a post-conference activity for learners in a population health course. Audio and video were used for simulation prebriefing and debriefing, with audio only during the simulation scenario. Evidence-based prebriefing and debriefing guides were developed to aid in facilitating the simulation. Sample: To date, 104 undergraduate nursing students participated in the SBE—attending in groups of six to eight.

Results: The Simulation Effectiveness Tool-Modified (SET-M) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the SBE. The SET-M has good overall reliability with a Chronbach’s alpha of 0.936 (Leighton et al., 2015). Fifty students completed the online evaluation, reporting the SBE offered an opportunity to practice clinical decision-making, clinical judgment, and evidence-based safe care.

Conclusion: This SBE is a low-resource, low-technology way to incorporate telephone triage content into a curriculum, which can help prepare nursing students to practice at the top of their licenses while increasing patient access to health care.