Triage Tags add a color coded bar to your patient’s Status Board and can be used to document how critical a patient is, nursing assignments, or specific client/patient concerns (you can even click a triage tag twice to fast-track it, making it a higher priority than the original color!). The Status Board can also be sorted by these tags by selecting the “Sort by Triage Tag” button at the top of the In/Out column.
We have digitized this concept into a red-to-blue (plus pink) triage color system in Instinct. This is designed to be completely flexible, allowing you to adopt it your way (you decide what each color represents at your hospital).
Below are a few examples of how these are being used in some hospitals:
Outpatient/OP Board:
(You might prefer to use only 3 or 4 – completely flexible and up to you)
Red – Needs immediate attention (arrest, major trauma, unresponsive, heavy bleeding)
Orange – Shouldn’t wait long (disoriented, distressed, broken limb)
Yellow – Somewhat stable/mildly abnormal vitals
Green – Stable patient/normal vitals
Blue – Not actually an emergency
Pink – Euthanasia or possible euthanasia
On the Inpatient/IP Board they can be used to communicate other things like:
Nurse assignments – each nurse is assigned a color per shift
Code status (Red = DNR, Green = full CPR)
Green – The client has cost concerns
Pink – plan to euthanize