Telephone Triage Simulation Activity for Prelicensure Nursing Students

Background: To meet the demands of a complex health care environment, nursing students need education that includes telephone triage in outpatient settings. Developing telephone triage communication skills requires the use of a different set of senses than in-person assessments. The purpose of this pilot study was to measure the effect of a telephone triage classroom simulation on prelicensure nursing students' knowledge and skills. Method: A simulation was developed to learn outpatient telephone triage protocols focused on lower respiratory illness. Students documented the encounter, gave a report to the provider, and completed the Simulation Effectiveness Tool-Modified. Results: Eighty-eight percent of students strongly agreed that learning about telephone triage and outpatient nursing was useful. Student perceptions of learning pathophysiology and teaching patients about illness scored lowest. Most students had inaccurate documentation of patient encounters. Conclusion: Identified areas for curricular improvement included accurate documentation, pathophysiology, and patient teaching opportunities in outpatient telephone triage.