Triage Nurse RN - Grassy Creek - Primary Care

Triage Nurse

Triage is an interactive process between the nurse and patient that occurs over the telephone or face-to-face and involves identifying the nature and urgency of client healthcare needs and determining the appropriate disposition. The role of the triage nurse is to assess the patient, provide patient education, and crisis intervention. The goal of telephone triage services is to direct the caller to the appropriate level of care or service in a safe and timely manner in combination with providing self-care advice and direction. The triage nurse aids in directing the patient to the right level of care with the right provider in the right place at the right time.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Customer Service: Delivers courteous, sincere, and sensitive customer service. Timely in responding to patient/family and other team member needs. Solves problems for patients, families, and staff. Promotes team-based care by utilizing Eskenazi Health Model of Excellence (EME) tools.

Leadership: Engages with transformational leadership. Actively supports the Eskenazi Health Mission Innovates, takes risks and experiments to improve outcomes. Participates in interview process and evaluations for clinical staff.

Delegation: The process of assigning others responsibility and authority. Assist team members in personal growth by delegating tasks that are in alignment with their scope of practice and competence level. Holds staff members accountable for completing the tasks assigned to them.

Financial Accountability/Stewardship: Encompasses the effective stewardship of resources. Assists site management in community outreach efforts at health fair type events. Manages timelines/deadlines of team projects and site projects. Assure adequate resources are available.

Teamwork: To facilitate team care, the Triage Nurse sits in the common area with the physicians and other clinical support staff assigned to her/his team. Ensures requests for medication refills, test results, and other patient concerns are completed. Promotes team-based care by utilizing the Eskenazi Health Model of Excellence (EME) tools. Assists clinical teams manage patient panels to meet quality metrics by out reaching to patients who need appropriate disease specific or age-specific screenings. Collaborating with the provider and other clinical support team members to ensure that patients receive appropriate and adequate instruction regarding new diagnoses, new medications, as well as wellness recommendations. Conducts nurse visits for patients assigned to the team

Initiative & Growth: Develops goals for professional growth of self and team members. Demonstrates a self-directed work effort aligned with team goals. Complete Eskenazi Institute for Leadership training within 18 months of assignment. Performs quality improvement activities: identify processes needing improvement; develops and implement improvement plan, performs pre- and post-intervention audits within 18 months of assignment.

Technical Skill: Demonstrates technical ability, understanding of job expectations and compliance with organizational policies and procedures. Consistently tracks, organizes, and prioritizes the workload with the ability to sort through routine and stat data while keeping both the provider and the patient informed. Charts assessments, interventions, and patient response concisely, descriptively, and legibly. Utilizes established protocols to manage phone and walk-in triage of patients to identify the level of care needed, assign a triage priority, and implement the appropriate plan of action. Use of critical thinking skills in the care of the patients/families and to resolve issues within the team.

Job Requirements

Registered Nurse (RN) with state licensure. Current CPR/BLS certification. A minimum of three years progressive professional experience as a nurse with at least 1 year in an ambulatory setting preferred. Fully proficient verbal and written communication skills. Experience with adult and/or pediatric IV and procedure skills preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

High degree of emotional intelligence; self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. High levels of accuracy, productivity and good judgment are required in developing and maintaining a positive public and community image. Detail oriented, solid organizational ability. Superior customer relations abilities. Ability to work independently, devise own work patterns and prioritize tasks. Capable of handling multiple tasks and projects concurrently Advanced computer skills required, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. Creative, innovative; utilizes evidenced based practice and Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology to drive continuous improvement. Utilizes age-, education- and socially appropriate communication skills. Skills in interpersonal relations, conflict resolution, education, community & organizational development. Ability to analyze complex situations and perform effective problem-solving functions. Knowledge of human behavior, social environment, and agency resources. Works effectively with a wide variety of professionals, patients, and their families. Ability to analyze and interpret data, prepare necessary reports, and make recommendations. Ability to use effective listening skills to make appropriate assessments of patient needs. Ability to perform triage assessment without face-to-face interaction. Ability to work cooperatively and communicate effectively.