Pediatric residents' telephone triage experience. Relevant to general pediatric practice?
J. T. Benjamin
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, USA.
OBJECTIVES: To describe a pediatric resident telephone triage system in a
tertiary hospital and to determine its relevance to telephone experience in
general pediatric practice DESIGN: An analysis of 514 telephone calls from
parents of continuity clinic patients made to pediatric residents. The
evaluation included: chief complaint, disposition of call, age of patient,
and level of training of the resident answering the call. A comparison was
made with published information about a private-practice telephone triage
system. SETTING: Pediatric continuity clinic, Medical College of Georgia,
Augusta. PATIENTS: Children registered in the pediatric resident continuity
clinic at the Medical College of Georgia. RESULTS: The 13 most frequent
reasons for calling were some of the most common problems seen in pediatric
practice. The disposition of calls was as follows: 272 (53%) were given
telephone advice alone, 119 (23%) were offered an appointment for the next
day, and 123 (24%) were advised to come to the emergency department
immediately. Disposition did not vary with residency level. Both chief
complaints and disposition of calls were similar to those reported in a
private-practice nurse triage system. CONCLUSIONS: Answering telephone
calls in a residency telephone triage system, when combined with a
curriculum that includes next-day monitoring, feedback from a preceptor,
and seminar discussions focused on telephone management situations, is a
valuable training experience and is relevant for residents going into
private pediatric practice.
