Influence of work stress, clinical decision-making ability, and teamwork on triage competency among emergency room nurses in Korea: a cross-sectional study

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of work stress, clinical decision-making ability, and teamwork on triage competency among emergency room nurses.Methods: This descriptive correlational study included 145 nurses working at national emergency medical centers, community emergency medical centers, and regional emergency departments in Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, Daejeon and Seoul. Research instruments were used to measure work stress, clinical decision-making ability, teamwork, and triage competency. Data were collected from August 5 to October 15, 2024. The collected data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS ver. 30.0, employing descriptive statistics, the t-test, analysis of variance, the Scheffé test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis.Results: Triage competency among emergency room nurses was significantly positively correlated with clinical decision-making ability (r=0.43, P<0.001) and teamwork (r=0.21, P=0.012). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the main factors influencing triage competency were triage experience of 18 months or more (β=0.35, P=0.002), clinical decision-making ability (β=0.28, P=0.001), and triage experience of 6 to 18 months (β=0.18, P=0.048).Conclusion: To enhance triage competency in emergency room nurses, it is necessary to strengthen their clinical decision-making abilities and develop experience-based, tailored triage training programs. The findings of this study can serve as foundational data for emergency room nurse education and inform hospital policy development.