Triage knowledge and skills among nurses in emergency units of Specialized Hospital in Hawassa, Ethiopia: cross sectional study

Abstract Objective This study was aimed to assess knowledge and skills of triage and associated factors among nurses in emergency department of Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, South Ethiopia. Institutional based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 101 nurses from March 1–30, 2018. The data was coded and entered to SPSS version 22.0. Descriptive statistics was done and Chi square test was done to show the association between independent variables and dependent variable. Results Among the study participants, 57.4% were female and 87% were in age group of ≤ 30 years. 51.5% had low triage knowledge scores, with the mean score being 9.54 (SD = 2.317), 76.2% perceived their overall triage skill to be at good level, with mean score 95.75 (SD = 9.562). Working experience of study participants (χ2 = 15.204, p < .01), Educational level of study participant (χ2 = 22.148, p < .01) and triage experience (χ2 = 13.638, p < .01) were factors associated with triage knowledge. Working experience (χ2 = 7.944, p < .05) and triage experience (χ2 = 6.264, p < .05) were factors associated with triage skill