[The emergency department triage nurse, a constantly evolving role].

The number of patients attending emergency departments is constantly growing. They are fast becoming a place of primary care. Early assessment of patients must guarantee the safety of their care. The triage nurse uses a clinical examination and a triage chart to classify the patients. The reception of the patients by the triage nurse is professional. With tension often high in emergency departments, triage nurses play a role in defusing situations, which could constitute the next area of focus of their professionalization.