Anybody here??

[MA Nurse]

I am looking to connect with other triage nurses. This board is so inactive, i am hoping to get it going again! I think it's so important to support each other, especially since we can barely talk to each other at work. I have been having a hard time with the stress of this job. Anyone else??

[MA Nurse]

Telephone triage is harder than I ever thought it would be. I takes a lot of patience to take tons of calls, one right after another. I also didn't realize how much teaching would be involved and how many people lack basic common sense. It's actually scary at times.

[BatcampRN]

Hi RuralNurseRN. I work for an independent physician- owned medical practice that is mainly primary care. We have internal med, family practice, and peds. Then we have a OB/GYN practice, and some specialists (ENT, Cardio, sports meds etc). We have 3 offices in the area. The majority of the employees work in the office, including those that triage- except for a select few that triage during weekends and early/late hours

[No12S, ADN, BSN, RN]

I have only done telephone triage for about half a year and I really like it, my previous experience was ER, Med/Surg and Hospice. My worst day in telephone triage is better than my best day at the bedside. Where I work we don't take the calls from patients, we have admin assistants who answer the phones and send the nurses messages if there is a medical question or need. Of course you get rude people just like anywhere else, and a lot people seem to get upset because you are asking question, you get a lot of people who say "I'm sick" or "I feel bad" and expect you to automatically know what their symptoms are, but I like working 8-5, no weekends, no holidays and no nights! When you get a rude and nasty person on the phone, in 4-5 minutes the call is over and you move on but at the bedside, you have 12 hours of hell! Bedside nursing is just not for me and I hope I never have to see another patient or demanding family member face to face again!

[thetank]

I am here. Would love to talk with you about it. I've been a telephone triage nurse for over 3 years. Still haven't gotten used to the rude/mean callers. Need some help. Sigh.

[Koalified]

I'm contemplating on switching to telephone nursing from floor nursing. I would love to hear what everyone's thought process was when you decided to leave the floors. I'm a little nervous. What if I don't like telenursing? What if I'm no longer hireable because I left the bedside? What happens if I triage the caller as not acute but ends up needing emergent care? Scary....

[thetank]

Hi there. I left floor nursing in 2009 and I would never ever return. I have worked in home care, as a school nurse, and now telephone triage. It took me a long time to get used to it, I really missed face to face contact with patients, and to be honest, I still do. However, I really like the normal hours, no weekends, no holidays. They always need floor nurses, so I wouldn't worry about being no longer hireable. We work with triage software that covers us, so no worries about triaging a patient as not acute but ends up needing emergent care. Plus, if there is ever a question, I FYI the encounter note to the provider. The bottom line is that it's always the provider's call anyway.

[RuralNurseRN]

I have interviewed with one company, but after reading employee reviews get really nervous about telephone triage nursing from home being "too good to be true." What companies are reputable for work from home positions?

[thetank]

I work for a large family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine practice. There are 5 triage nurses, and we answer for 15 providers. We're connected to a big hospital corporation, I don't work from home.

[ILoveHorsesRN, ADN]

I am here. Would love to talk with you about it. I've been a telephone triage nurse for over 3 years. Still haven't gotten used to the rude/mean callers. Need some help. Sigh.

I understand. I try to focus on the nice callers instead of the rude ones, but it can be hard to do that. One caller told me "thank you for being there today." But then the rude callers are what sticks in my head. Not an easy job! I feel like a 911 operator most of the time. It's a different level of stress for sure.I struggle with leaving. We are micromanaged, that's what's hard. Not being able to go to the bathroom without worrying how long it's been is not easy.

[ayeaye Cpt Crunch]

Are your currently working at a call center?

[ayeaye Cpt Crunch]

When I was telephone triaging you could typically go 2 years without doing any patient contact nursing and still be okay. After 2 years you start running into problems getting patient contact positions due to no longer having "recent" experience with patient contact nursing.

[Hmayse]

I just accepted a telephone triage position for a heart and vascular office. Any advice?!