Victorian nurses demonstrate concordance in the application of the National Triage Scale

Objectives This paper assesses the level of uniformity among Victorian public hospital triage nurses in utilising the National Triage Scale and compares triage agreement between nurses working in similar hospitals and with similar triage experience. Method One hundred and eighty eight Victorian triage nurses triaged 20 case scenarios to one of the five National Triage Scale categories and completed data relevant to their site of practice. Results Fifteen patients were each triaged to four different triage categories. Seventeen patients had more than 90% of responses in the modal category plus one adjacent category. Kappa statistics confirmed fair inter‐rater agreement for all nurses and within each subgroup. Conclusions Agreement among Victoria's triaging personnel appears reasonable, although there is room for improvement. Future training should adopt a statewide or nationwide approach.