Becoming a telephone triage nurse requires strong communication, decision-making, and nursing skills. Requirements vary by country, but additional education and computer skills are helpful. Nurses must use their knowledge to determine patient needs over the phone and act quickly in potentially life-threatening situations.
To become a telephone triage nurse, you must be a confident nurse, a great communicator, and a quick decision maker. These skills are developed over time and with education. You must put a lot of effort into the cause, but one day you will be able to talk to patients over the phone and help determine the severity of their illness and what the next step in recovery should be.
Each country has different requirements for becoming a telephone triage nurse. For example, in the United States, you must have a bachelor’s degree in nursing and be a registered nurse. There are no certifications required to work in the telephone triage department, but pursuing additional education in telephone communication, determining illnesses by telephone, and learning more about specialized health areas will help secure a job.
Your nursing background will give you a great understanding of the human body and its many diseases. Telephone nurses must be able to use this knowledge without any visual aid from the patient because they are on the phone. The nurse must also be able to interpret non-verbal cues, such as labored breathing, when a patient is complaining of chest pain.
To become a telephone triage nurse, you must be prepared to operate a telephone line like a switchboard operator and know how to think on your feet. On any given day, you could be talking to people with chest pains, stomach aches, a broken arm or a bloody nose and would need the knowledge and experience to listen to the symptoms and make a recommendation about seeking treatment. Telephone triage nurses are expected to act quickly because a few minutes can be a matter of life and death in some situations.
Understanding computer software is also an essential talent for becoming a telephone triage nurse. Most hotlines will have the nurse enter information ranging from gender, age, medical history and current problems into the computer. Its algorithm will make suggested patient diagnoses. Nurses must have excellent attention to detail and strong computer skills to enter and understand this data quickly.
To become a telephone triage nurse, you must take all of your nursing knowledge and use it to determine a patient’s needs over the telephone. For many nurses, this is more difficult than face-to-face meetings and requires a strong understanding of the human body. By gathering practical information, being a great communicator, and making quick decisions, telephone triage nurses help save lives.
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