Osman, Abdi D ORCID: 0000-0002-8104-8019, Howell, Jocelyn, Yeoh, Michael, Wilson, Damian, Plummer, Virginia and Braitberg, George ORCID: 0000-0002-4013-3364 (2024) Benefits of emergency department routine blood test performance on patients whose allocated triage category is not time critical: a retrospective study. BMC Health Services Research, 24 (1). ISSN 1472-6963

Abstract

Introduction Emergency department clinicians, and particularly nurses in triage, frequently perform routine blood tests on patients whose allocated triage category is not time critical (triage categories 3, 4 and 5 of the Australasian Triage Scale). Some observers have questioned the utility of routine blood testing in these acute healthcare settings given the cost and workload implications. Methods A quantitative method using retrospective observational design was utilised guided by STROBE checklist. Electronic medical records of patient data collected at a quaternary Australian metropolitan hospital emergency department were reviewed. Results and discussion A total of 74,878 adult patients attended the emergency department between 1st January and 31st December 2021 and a sample of 383 were randomly allocated for this study. Of the 383 patients included, 51% were female, age ranges were 18–99 years (mean 51.6). The majority were Australasian Triage scale (ATS) triage category 3 (55%) and 62% had blood tests performed. Blood test performance was found to be associated with advancing age (p < 0.001) but not with department occupancy as determined by the national emergency department overcrowding scale (p = 0.230). Conclusion Blood testing in the emergency department in triaged non-time critical patients was found to be frequent thereby affecting nurses’ already stretched time resource. Older patients were found to be more likely to have a blood test. There is a positive correlation between blood test performance and length of stay in the emergency department.

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