Accepted telephone triage position!

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Specializes in Psych.

Hello. I have just accepted a telephone triage position! I’m excited but a little nervous. Any advice?

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care/Telephone Triage.

CONGRATS! Hopefully you will enjoy your new position. I am also new to telephone triage and have been doing it almost a year now.

My advice....find a really good experienced RN that you can shadow and spend as much time with them as you are allowed. Observe as many different calls as you can. Each one is different!

Secondly, try not to diagnose. Try to listen to all of the patient's complaints, pick out the ones that are the most concerning and focus on those. It's easy to slip into a protocol based on some symptoms and end up in the wrong place. I once had a patient who called with urinary symptoms....burning, frequency, inability to empty out...UTI, right? The doctor sent her to the hospital for further testing because he suspected cauda equina syndrome. I had never even heard of that! It can be very serious.

Thirdly, think of yourself as the air traffic controller. You screen the patient and decide where they need to land.

Have fun and welcome to Telephone Triage! Its the wave of the future!

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Specializes in Psych.

Thank you so much for your great advice!

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