[PhillyKidRN]

Hi all,
I currently work in a pediatric ER, however I will be going back to school in September for my Family Nurse Practitioner MSN. I thought it would be wise to get some adult and OB experience so I found a family practice center that does basically everything so that I can be around working with adults and all that again. I will do direct pt care, but also I will be required to do some Telephone Triage... does anyone do this?? Can anyone tell me what it's like?? I'll be able to answer any peds question anyone might have, but I'm rusty on the adult stuff. Any suggestions on how to brush up other than rereading my med-surg book!! lol. Thanks.

[scribblerpnp]

Ask if the facility provides a telephone triage book or possibly find one you like and buy one for yourself. They are a great help for people doing triage for the first time. They usually have a list of you all the important questions you should ask, what advice to give and when to tell them to go to the ED, etc. Might be worth looking into.

[bigsyis]

This is the one our practice used to help establish protocols:

Telephone Triage Protocols for Nurses, 2nd Edition, by Julie K. Briggs.

This isn't a commercial-you can find not only this one, but many others at Amazon.com

[Fonenurse]

You can also read more here http://allnurses.com/forums/f51/