Prejudice between triage nurses and emergency medical technicians: is it a big deal?

Stefano Maiandi; Alessandro Galazzi; Alessandro Villa; Mariangela Zarini; Stefano Sironi; Maura Lusignani

doi:10.23750/abm.v92iS2.11549

Prejudice between triage nurses and emergency medical technicians: is it a big deal?

Authors

Stefano Maiandi Health Professions Directorate, Research and Development, ASST di Lodi, Lodi, Italy
Alessandro Galazzi Direction of Healthcare Professions, Foundation IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy
Alessandro Villa Corso di Laurea in Infermieristica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Sezione ASST Fatebenefratelli, Milano, Italy
Mariangela Zarini Corso di Laurea in Infermieristica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Sezione ASST Fatebenefratelli, Milano, Italy
Stefano Sironi Formazione AREU, Azienda Regionale Emergenza Urgenza Lombardia, Milano, Italy
Maura Lusignani Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Milano, Italy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v92iS2.11549

Keywords:

emergency department, emergency medical services, nurse, volunteer

Abstract

The transmission of information between registered nurses (RNs) and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in triage plays a fundamental role in patient care. Despite their common purpose is to assure patients to get the best diagnostic, therapeutic and care pathway, triage RNs and EMTs hold different perspectives during the process.

One aspect that has not been investigated in the international literature concerns the possible presence of prejudice, meant as a preconceived opinion capable of causing people to adopt unjust attitudes toward EMTs by triage RNs.

To investigate this phenomenon a survey was conducted among 740 healthcare workers (197 triage RNs and 543 EMTs), in 14 hub and spoke hospitals in Lombardia region (Italy) in October 2019.

The 21.9% of RNs reported negative prejudice toward EMTs (particularly if they are volunteer), while 71% of EMTs perceived negative prejudice from triage RNs.

This survey did not investigate the phenomenon exhaustively but witnessed a slippery scenario that is worth to be further explored, also evaluating whether it can affect outcomes in patients.

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