Position Summary
Responsible for providing triage (sorting/ prioritizing patients) telephone service to ensure prompt response to patient/ family calls to assess need to be seen, identify urgency to be seen and offer options for home care and self-management if appropriate
Responsibilities
- Nurse talks directly to patients on the telephone and then directs them as appropriate to emergency care, WCU Health Symptom Management Clinic, or to see oncology provider during office hours.
- Ability to perform short evaluation of the patient's situation to estimate severity of illness and/or injury including learning about the chief complaint and, when possible, obtaining vital signs (fever, pulse, respiratory rate, pain, changes in color especially lips, hands, effort of breathing, audible breath sounds) and mental status information (sleeping more, lethargic, irritable), assessing pain, fatigue, and other symptoms related to current therapy/surgical intervention.
- Determines urgency need of seeing the patient based on brief assessment and on familiarity with the patient's condition and history. Uses approved oncology telephone triage protocols in written form. Confers with physician as needed.
- Sends those with high-risk chief complaints such as increased effort of breathing, shortness of breath, altered level of consciousness, bleeding, trauma, loss of consciousness, or first-time seizure activity to ED immediately or arranges for ambulance per protocol. May provide appropriate home care advice to those patients who do not need to go directly to the ED.
- Sets up appointments for patients who do not need to go to the ED But need to see a physician or arranges for appointment scheduler to make the appointment.
- Provides prescription refills per approved policy guidelines, directs other refill requests to the appropriate clinician as a pended prescription.
Minimum Requirements
ADN or higher is required. BSN preferred
Minimum 5 years experience as RN
Current NC or Compact RN license; Current CPR certificate required.
Med/Surg certification or ONS certification preferred.
Pay Range
$34.74 - $50.64
Other Information
Remote position.
