DorothyMay

I transfer all calls to schedule appointments and calls for directions to the clerks. I SOO AGREE that one must have a thick skin because patients can be REALLY rude on the phone. However, our unit policy is NO tolerance! Therefore I give the caller one warning and if they continue I hang up. I do not tolerate belittling, profanity, yelling etc. If they can't be nice then I have no time to talk to them. There are too many nice callers to put up with that!

Likes: Autonomy, Endless Learning/research ( as I have to keep up on the latest medications since patients call about them, I have to keep up with the latest surgical interventions as patients call with post op and pre op questions) Dislikes: Inability to plan how the shift will go as you never know what types of calls you may get for example I may get a call regarding minor side effects due to a medication and the next caller may be a mental health patient who has a loaded gun and informs me of his plan to kill everyone in his home and then himself. The next caller may be a woman with anxiety/stress due to her marriage situation. Some days I feel like I am a 911 operator and other days I feel like I am a marriage counselor We presently have a high turnover in our unit as many nurses HATE the rotating shifts. It is a fast paced atmosphere at times many calls coming in at the same time and the requirement to quickly ascertain a callers problem however curiously during national football/basketball seasons the phones can be oddly quiet...UNTIL GAME HALF TIME!!!

We have guidelines within our regional call center which allow me to disconnect ( hang up) on any caller who becomes rude. I give the caller one warning and if the behavior ( yelling, cursing etc) continues then I hang up. If the caller calls back I transfer him/her to our police department.

Over 30 years in nursing with half of that in telenursing. I work in a regional ( multi state) call center with 14 other nurses our center is open 24hours/7 days a week. We currently are officed in the building however that is about to change as telework is about to begin. We work rotating shifts.

My advice network, network, network in my part of the world it is not what is listed down on your application , although a BSN is minimum level for consideration...however if you know someone who knows someone who works at the facility you are interested in working in you will have a definite advantage and you need that advantage...recently my large hospital had a RN job fair and only 30 openings...however had over 700 applicants.

I am starting the online MSN-Healthcare policy in July....I am so PUMPED!!!