A triage nurse might just be the most important role in an emergency room. Not a doctor or surgeon, but a triage nurse. Emergency wards are almost always busy. And hospitals have limited resources. It is not busy that is the problem, it’s focus and resource allocation. The triage nurse is the one who assessing everyone as they come in figuring out the severity of the problem and knowing the resources available on the ward (or sends people home to see their GP in the morning). To be a triage nurse, you need both a broad knowledge of medical and health issues, but also good understanding of the skills of your colleagues and how they work together.

Many of us comment on being busy. ‘How are you?’ receives the reply ‘Good, but busy’ or just ‘Busy’. Perhaps we all need to work on our triaging skills. What is it that we need to address ourselves and what to we need to pass on to others? And perhaps most importantly, what do we need to say ‘no’ to?

Too often we don’t triage. We don’t say no. And then we become overwhelmed.

How can you triage your day, your week, month? For yourself and your team.

Photo by Ani Kolleshi