Hi Veronica,
I work in the Veterans Administration and in our local primary care clinics, patients that present without an appointment and have symptoms are triaged by an RN using an SBAR format, however, all these patients are still seen by the provider unless it is an emergent situation then locations follow emergency procedures.
I am aware of other VA's that do have different processes, and some use the ESI criteria, so I hope you get some replies.
I did also want to mention that I'm not aware of a national certification for triage. There was a national certification for telephone triage but this was retired in 2017 (I think) and is now renewal only. The ambulatory care nursing certification does incorporate triage (e.g. in-person, virtual, telehealth). I've attached the test content outline that is currently online. Triage falls under the Assess and Evaluate portion, which accounts for 40% of the exam questions.
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Courtney A. Monterusso BSN, RN, AMB-BC, FNS
Performance Improvement Facilitator –Primary Care Nursing
ONS Detail Electronic Enterprise Standardization Consultant
VA St. Louis Health Care System | 915 N. Grand Ave, St. Louis, MO 63106
314.652.4100 ext. 54396 or 289-7676 11F/JC courtney.monterusso@va.gov
"There is no limit to the amount of
good you can do if you don't care
who gets the credit."
~Ronald Reagan~