On Call and Triage Question - is this normal?

Published Mar 2, 2023

206 Posts

I'm hoping for someone more recent in this kind of position to reply as most of the posts on here currently are older and maybe this is how on call is done in 2023.

I have been offered a weekend on call position. 5p Fri- 9a Monday. Salaried at 80k plus all mileage. The census is around 50. The office covers 21 counties. Admissions are not done on weekends unless absolutely necessary but follow up visits for Friday admissions are and daily visits for any patient that is transitioning.

An answering service initial takes the calls then notifies the on call nurse if its something that needs addressing. I specifically asked if the service is a triage nurse and the answer was " we have an answering service and they push the calls to who can handle them" to me that sounds like the on call nurse also triages. I asked about back up staff given the large geographical area and if things got overly busy what support there is. The back up is an on call Admin and if back up would be needed the on call Admin would be notified then figure something out. One of the two Admins is a nurse so if she were on call as Admin for the weekend she could help but otherwise they would need to get one of the CM to come in. 2 CM are leaving the company within the next 2 weeks. That leaves 1 CM FT and 1 CM PT.

My concern is some of those visits for the CM's that are leaving will get pushed to the weekends since they will be short 2 CM. I am also concerned there not being back up or a dedicated triage as 5p Fri -9a Mon. it will end up being way too much. I understand I may not be out/taking calls the entire time but it still sounds like a lot though maybe this is how it is now? I did ask why the person who was in the position currently is leaving as they said she has only been in it about 4 months and they said she didn't want to make any visits unless deaths or pain crisis issues and refused weekend admissions when needed. I'm thinking she was just overworked/burnt out.