RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a triage system on waiting times and patient satisfaction of one secondary care hospital emergency department (ED). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a quasiexperimental study. All patients > 15 years demanding emergency care of the selected hospital were included (n = 1,010); a sample was drawn for applying a satisfaction questionnaire (n = 198). The intervention, in charge of trained nurses, consisted of a classification system based on the national scale of the United Kingdom of five categories. The real waiting time was measured from registration to initiation of care. The analysis included descriptive statistics, the sign test and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Seventy-one percent of the patients attended the ED spontaneously. The first three categories, considered real emergencies, engaged more than half of the patients. Immediate care was received in category 1 similar to the standard (p > 0.05); the real waiting time in the rest of categories was less than the expected standard (p < 0.01). Sixty-three percent was very satisfied with the waiting time from triage to initiation of care and 74%, with overall care of the ED. Satisfaction with nursing care and waiting time from arrival to initiation of medical care were determinants for satisfaction with overall care, independent of sex and age. CONCLUSIONS: The triage system largely challenged the not easy ED demand and its waiting times in addition to patient satisfaction. This simple classification scale allows improvement in managing emergency services and cases, the benefits can be potentially extended to other health care services.