What are the responsibilities and job description for the Triage Registered Nurse position at CAROLINA ASTHMA AND ALLERGY CENTER?
General Summary: A non-exempt position responsible for providing triage (sorting/prioritizing patients) telephone service to ensure prompt resolution of patient care concerns or issues. Able to travel to all clinic locations within the company, workdays M-F and up to 40 hrs. per week. The position offers remote flexibility contingent upon meeting the eligibility criteria outlined in #503 Telecommuting Policy.
Essential Job Responsibilities:
1. Talks directly to patients on the telephone and provides them with guidance for care, medication regimen, or to see their physician during office hours.
2. Performs short evaluation of the patient situation to estimate severity of illness and/or injury including learning about chief complaint and, as possible, obtaining vital sign and mental status information.
3. Determines urgency of seeing the patient based on brief assessment and familiarity with a patient’s condition and history. May use computerized medical information database and confers with physician as needed.
4. Advises those with high-risk chief complaints to urgent care. May provide appropriate home health advice to those patients who do not need to go directly to the ER (Emergency Room).
5. Sets up appointments for patients who do not need to go to the ER but need to see a physician or arranges for an appointment scheduler to make the appointment.
6. Acts, when designated, in “Ask a Nurse” capacity, managing routine information requests from patients, e.g., “Do I need a flu shot every year? When are you giving these shots?”
7. Receives patient calls via the Urgent Triage Live Queue, evaluating the urgency of their concerns and adeptly directing them to the appropriate place or staff, as necessary.
8. Adheres to Clinical Tasking Guide when directing inquiries.
9. Completes Intravenous and Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin Treatment authorizations and serves as a point of contact for the patient and IVIG (Intravenous Immune Globulin) companies.
10. Able to renew medication prescriptions per protocol and prior authorizations when needed for refills.
11. Ability to perform duties as a staff RN (Registered Nurse) when needed.
12. Complete prior authorizations for Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) medications while maintaining ongoing communication to keep patients informed of authorization progress and any relevant updates.
13. Utilizes work time wisely and efficiently by completing clinical tasks, assisting with triage tasks, calling patients for lab and/or radiology results, completing the prior
authorization paperwork needed for medication approvals, assisting team members, cleaning, organizing, stocking, and putting supplies away and preparing the office to run efficiently.
14. Serves as a resource for CAAC staff offering expertise in medical information, patient assessment, and nursing care for various health conditions.
15. Follows policies and protocols as written.
16. Submits timely response/justification to the Significant Event Report.
17. Performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:Education: RN or LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) degree; PN, BSN or MSN degree preferred. On-the-job training in triage.
Experience: Minimum five years of experience as RN or LPN; one to two years of telephone triage experience, preferably in medical practice setting.
Other Requirements: Current state RN or LPN license. Current BLS (Basic Life Support) certificate.
Performance Requirements:
Knowledge:
1. Knowledge of telephone-based clinical assessment techniques.
2. Knowledge of medical practice telephone triage protocols.
3. Knowledge of appropriate home health information for patients to follow until visit with physician if they do not need an immediate ER visit.
Skills:
1. Skill in using electronic medical records to check patient history.
2. Skill in using computerized medical information database during evaluation as guide to appropriate decision.
3. Skill in making triage decisions and responding quickly and calmly in emergency situations such as calling 911 and arranging for ambulances.
Abilities:
1. Ability to communicate clearly and calmly with patients.
2. Ability to elicit information needed to make brief evaluation.
3. Ability to work closely with physicians and other clinicians as needed.
4. Ability to provide excellent customer service in all call situations.