Effectiveness of targeted multiple injuries nurses' training on emergency department nurses' knowledge and triage skills: a randomized control trial

Objective: The study's objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of a multiple injuries triage advanced trauma nursing course/ advanced trauma care for nurses programme on knowledge and skill among emergency nurses. Methods: One hundred and twelve emergency nurses from two government hospitals in the West Bank participated in a single-blinded randomised control trial, the data were gathered using a self-administered structured questionnaire. The advanced trauma nursing course was delivered to the experimental group using a practice-first approach followed by theory in two days (8 am- 4 pm), while advanced trauma care for nurses was delivered to the control group with with a theory-first approach followed by practice in two days (8 am- 4 pm). The material for both groups was PowerPoint, two videos, a low-fidelity simulation, two scenarios, and a group discussion. Results: There were significant mean score differences between the experimental and control groups in the pairwise comparisons of the groups in terms of knowledge and skill. There were significant mean score differences in knowledge between the baseline and post-intervention in the experimental group (mean difference=0.57; P-value<0.001), as well as between the baseline and the three-month follow-up (mean difference=0.26; P-value<0.001), and the post-intervention and three-month follow-up (mean difference= - 0.30; P-value<0.001). There was no significant mean difference in the knowledge and skill between the post-programme (mean difference=0.08; P-value=0.383) and three-month follow-up (mean difference=0.02; P-value=1.000) in the control group. Conclusion: Nurses attending the two-day training advanced trauma nursing course can improve their knowledge and skills in multiple injuries triage in the emergency department compared to advanced trauma care for nurses’ programme. Emergency nurses should regularly undergo retraining in the multiple injuries triage programme to evaluate and improve their skill level every two years.