Improving vital signs measurement and documentation in the triage room : a quality improvement project

الملخص EN

Objective: To improve the local health center triage process.

Design: A Retrospective Study.

Setting: Hamad Town Health Center, Ministry of Health, Bahrain.

Methods: Vital signs documentation was conducted from 1 June 2017 to 30 November 2017.

The percentage of the recorded vital signs was documented, the reasons for missing vital signs data were analyzed and designed and implemented an intervention to improve recording the vital signs; finally, the percentage of the recorded vital signs post-intervention was evaluated.

Preintervention data from 1 January 2017 to 28 February 2017 were documented.

Post-intervention data were collected from all patients seen and registered from 1 September to 31 October.

Results: A total of 2,688 clinical records were included in this study; 1,473 were collected during the pre-intervention period and 1,215 were collected post-intervention.

During the pre-intervention period, 4/1473 (0.27%) vital signs were correctly recorded.

The post-intervention data revealed improvement in the vital signs from 0.27% (4/1473) to 10.29% (125/1215).

Conclusion: Implementing a formal quality improvement project improves vital sign documentation in the triage room.