New at this, help!

greetings all, this is my first post, so bear with me, but most all i am glad to be apart of a great group~~nurses, "the core of the heart and the compassion hands to heal", thank you guys for being who you are, great nurses!!!

Welcome to the world of telephone triage. I have been triaging for over 1 year and love it. Sometimes the callers call with unrealistic expectations and get mad because you can't fix their problem immediately. Generally though the callers are happy to get advice from a caring professional and not have to drag themselves out to the doctor.

Good luck!

Just barely started, so maybe I'm being hard on myself,

but, there is soooo much to learn.

Did anyone else feel this way?

How long to get comfortable?

How long to feel expert...or at least adequate.

I feel like a total DOOF:uhoh3: even though they said I did great.

One thing about it though.

Triage nurses deserve RESPECT.

This is more REAL nursing than I have ever done, (or observed).

Nursecee - you are being hard on yourself. IMO this is one of the most difficult nursing jobs there is - and to do it well calls for expertise! We tell our nurses it will take many months to really truly feel comfortable. I only began to feel 'expert' 6-12 months into the job. How many nurses do you know who would triage with a blindfold on - especially for callers with learning difficulties, mental health problems or language difficulties? It takes skill, patience and guts. Keep on in there - you'll get there!

I am an R.N., working in PACU (recovery room).

We have just implimented a new program that encourages same day surgical patients and families to call our "Nurse Liason" any time post operativley, with questions that they may have.

Our previous and current practice, is to provide discharge instructions related to their surgical procedure, including a Micro Medex print out of discharge instructions, and print out of medications Rx'd at that time. We also have told them to call their physician in the case of various untoward problems (Temp, increased pain, nausea, swelling, S/S of infection, etc, etc)

My concern, is that no parameters nor guidances have been set for this new "telephone Triage". The intent of the "Call a Nurse" program, is to improve customer relations / satisfaction.

The nursing personel assigned, will be taken from a pool of PACU nurses on a rotating basis, with that nurse to carry a beeper / cell phone for a 24 hour basis, 3-4 day rotation. We are paid an "on-call" rate of $6 per hour to do this. It is voluntary, yet highly "encouraged" that we participate....or it will be assigned as an on-call duty. (we already have required on-call/standby for emergency surgerys at this 250 bed hospital.

Again, no guidlines for informational output have been established. And, the nurses within our PACU department vary considerably in their knowledge and communications skills.

What should we nurses be investigating and be concerned with regarding the above "Call Our Nurse" program? What are our liabilities? How should administration be approached?

These "new and wonderful" programs seem to come from administration....without much forthought.

Thanks,

C. Scrivner RN

I've been at this for a couple of months now.

Basically, I love it.

I think I've truly found my niche and encourage any nurse who is burned out by the hospital rat race to give this a try.

It doesn't pay as much, but I don't care. I don't go home stressed out and physically spent.

Most of the time people really appreciate us. There is the occasional cranky person.

I just tell myself that at least they aren't going to be my patient for a week!

Anyone who thinks this isn't real nursing has another thing coming. It really stretches your brain.

Hugs to all, nurscee

I've been at this for a couple of months now.

Basically, I love it.

I think I've truly found my niche and encourage any nurse who is burned out by the hospital rat race to give this a try.

It doesn't pay as much, but I don't care. I don't go home stressed out and physically spent.

Most of the time people really appreciate us. There is the occasional cranky person.

I just tell myself that at least they aren't going to be my patient for a week!

Anyone who thinks this isn't real nursing has another thing coming. It really stretches your brain.

Hugs to all, nurscee

Sounds like a job I need to look into. Making money isn't a big thing for me - getting burned out and hating work is.