Abstract

Problem: Patients present to urgent care clinics who may have conditions that need a higher level of care. These patients are often triaged incorrectly by their primary care providers and triage line nurses who are not always familiar with the resources available at urgent care. The purpose of this project is to utilize evidence-based practice to educate primary care providers and triage lines about the resources available at an urgent care clinic to better direct patients to the appropriate level of care.

Intervention: Educational meetings and posters were used with three primary care providers and four triage line nurses who work in the same office. During these meetings, the primary investigator discussed the resources available at an urgent care clinic. Examples of conditions that could be treated were given.

Measures: Pre-intervention and post-intervention questionnaires were filled out to assess knowledge of the primary care providers and triage line nurses regarding conditions that can be treated at an urgent care setting. The electronic medical record (EMR) was also accessed to determine the number of visits that were deemed inappropriate for the urgent care clinic in the three weeks prior to intervention and in the three weeks post intervention.

Results: A dependent t-test showed no statistical significance of knowledge gained between the pre-intervention questionnaires (M = 7.71, n = 8) and post-intervention questionnaires (M = 8, n = 8); t (6) = 1.549, p = .172. There was no statistical significance in the number of patients who had to be sent to a higher level of care in the three weeks prior to intervention (M = 1.19, SD = .84) at the urgent care clinic and the three weeks post intervention (M = .67, SD = .73); z=1.582, p = .1137.

Conclusions: There was no significant decrease in the number of patients who had to be sent to a higher level of care from the urgent care clinic after the intervention of educating primary care providers and triage line nurses on the resources available at an urgent care. Although it was not significant, this education allows for safer monitoring and treatment for patients who may need more resources and promotes quicker treatment times for patients who have conditions that can be treated at an urgent care clinic. If a longer evaluation time and a larger pool of providers were used, there may have been statistical significance.

Description

NRS 890: Doctoral Scholarly Project IV

Author Details

Emma Majerus, DNP(c), BSN, RN; Lyndsi Hall, DNP, RN; Linda Hughes, PhD, MS, BSN

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quality Improvement

Research Approach

Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice

Keywords:

Triage, Medical Triage, Urgent Care, Outpatient Medical Care, Emergency Medical Services, Continuing Education, Primary Care, Medical Referrals

Advisor

Linda Hughes

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Nebraska Methodist College

Degree Year

2026

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Date of Issue

2026-10-14

Full Text of Presentation

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