One Set of Vital Signs: Is It Enough?

Triage is the process of deciding which patients should be treated first based on how sick or seriously injured they are. Specifically developed to meet the needs of the military medicine it has become a daily management tool within civilian emergency departments and it can be adapted to work in a variety of settings. Overcrowded emergency departments which result in the consequent lengthening of patients waiting times constitute a serious problem widespread all over the industrialized countries. Vital signs represent sensitive data often taken by the triage nurse with the perceived aim of making the triage process more accurate, objective, and able to reflect the urgency of the patient’s presentation. Very often patients categorized in a lower triage acuity level are requested to wait for a considerable amount of time before they are admitted in the emergency department. During this timeframe the triage nurse should constantly monitor these patients and make sure that they are not deteriorating. If this is the case, the nurse must allow the patient to enter the emergency department by changing the triage acuity level. Methodology Web-based literature review. Conclusion Vital signs measurement has always been believed to be an essential component of patient triage in the emergency department. The essential task of taking of vital signs in order to determine triage acuity is still a matter of debate. In fact, the impact of vital signs measurement has been explored by different studies highlighting that it is still controversial whether or not all patients arriving at triage need a complete set of measurements, especially in case of pediatric patients. Therefore, clinical experience and common sense represent key elements in decision making when it comes to speeding up the triage process and making it more efficient when triaging a new patient.