Phone Triage RN (Registered Nurse)

The Phone Triage Registered Nurse (RN) functions under the supervision and guidance of the Clinical Director and/or Physician and participates in the multi-disciplinary process of providing care and treatment to patients and provides clinical support and technical assistance to the professional medical and other staff. The triage RN makes nursing decisions in uncertain conditions drawing on a broad-based depth of knowledge and is able to recognize life-threatening emergencies. Uses systematic, comprehensive patient assessment tools, and uses protocols appropriately. Uses excellent interviewing and documentation skills and well-developed communication process to assess patients both directly and indirectly. Practices nursing utilizing the nursing process to give advice based on best practice, critical judgment, and protocols.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:  To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the following satisfactorily; other duties may be assigned. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Urologic nursing is the specialized practice of professional nursing that focuses on assisting the health care consumer in regaining and/or maintaining urologic health as well as preventing comorbid physical and/or psychological illness associated with urologic conditions. This involves provision of individualized, holistic, and evidence-based care for patients with urologic needs.
• Urologic nurses perform focused health exams and educate patients on how to best maintain genitourinary health that could significantly impact their quality of life.
• Urologic nurses utilize the nursing process of assessment, diagnosis, outcomes identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation, and work collaboratively with other members of the healthcare team. Due to a variety of sensitive issues related to genitourinary disorders, caring, empathy, respect, compassion, support, and acceptance are essential to the role of the urologic registered nurse.
• Urologic nurses are self-motivated, self-directed, lifelong learners recognizing the need to:

1. Participate in continuing education and professional development to maintain competence;

2. Actively conduct and/or collaborate in clinic research projects;

3. Utilize current evidence-based practice guidelines to standardize care;

4. Read, review, and participate in discussions of professional literature;

5. Maintain ongoing collaborative efforts with other members of the healthcare team;

6. Share unique knowledge and skills with other members of the healthcare team.

• Assesses the patient and identifies actual or potential health, safety, or educational needs.
• Implements nursing interventions based on the plan of care.
• Evaluate care and the patient's response to interventions and expected outcomes.
• Systematically evaluates the patient's response to interventions.
• Coordinates patient care with other health care team members.
• The triage nurse will also do direct patient assessment and evaluation.
• Demonstrates appropriate hand washing technique to ensure proper infection control and follows universal precautions.
• Functions in the role of triage nurse, which involves providing telephone support to patients during office hours
• Assessment of symptoms for various medical problems with the ability to determine if the patient should follow up with a physician or seek emergent care
• Scheduling emergent or same-day appointments based on telephone assessment
• Providing patients with lab results
• Processing prescription refills
• Communicating patient information to the physician and following through with physician recommendations.
• Documenting all telephone conversations related to the patient’s assessment in the electronic medical record.
• Performs all aspects of patient care in an environment that optimizes patient safety and reduces the likelihood of medical/health care errors.
• Schedules office and hospital-based medical procedures and surgeries, for patients with appropriate provider and time/location slot, utilizing appropriate scheduling code when needed.
• Other duties as assigned.