Role suggestions-family practice

[riley2009]

Hello! I am the only RN in a multi Doctor family practice clinic. I'm also the first nurse that has worked there so we are creating my role as we go. I was wondering what kind of things other nurses were doing in similar settings? Looking for ideas of the kinds of things that we could explore as part of my role!

Thanks!!

[klone, MSN, RN]

As the sole nurse in the clinic, I supervise the other staff. I am in charge of the day to day operations. I make sure things are running smoothly, patients are being seen promptly, and I look over everyone's schedule in the morning to see if there are any glaring scheduling errors that need to be fixed. I also do "service recovery" for unhappy patients. I also triage phones and walk-ins, have my own patient schedule, and deal with abnormal lab follow-up, getting orders from providers for additional testing, referrals, or prescriptions. Basically, as the nurse, I'm the front line supervisor, the resource for all the other staff, and the person they go to when they have questions or problems that need fixing.

[riley2009]

As the sole nurse in the clinic, I supervise the other staff. I am in charge of the day to day operations. I make sure things are running smoothly, patients are being seen promptly, and I look over everyone's schedule in the morning to see if there are any glaring scheduling errors that need to be fixed. I also do "service recovery" for unhappy patients. I also triage phones and walk-ins, have my own patient schedule, and deal with abnormal lab follow-up, getting orders from providers for additional testing, referrals, or prescriptions. Basically, as the nurse, I'm the front line supervisor, the resource for all the other staff, and the person they go to when they have questions or problems that need fixing.

Thanks Klone! I appreciate your response! Out of curiosity. What sort of things do you do with "service recovery". Is it just talking to them to explain the delay etc?

[klone, MSN, RN]

Yeah, communication, mostly. Apologizing for whatever they're unhappy about (if it is indeed something that we need to apologize for and not that they're unhappy because they showed up 30 minutes late and the provider wouldn't see them) and helping them come up with a solution that satisfies them. And sometimes escalating it to my manager and getting her involved.